TEHRAN – Tehran and Minsk signed a 15-item memorandum of understanding at the end of their 10th meeting of the joint economic cooperation committee here on Thursday.

Iranian Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari and Belarusian Industry Minister Alexander Radevich inked the MOU, IRNA News Agency reported.
Removing visa requirements for traders and investors, establishing a joint investment company, boosting cooperation in the different fields such as energy, oil and petrochemical, building an aluminum wire production factory in Belarus, and establishing a joint fund for boosting technological cooperation were among the items of the signed memorandum of understanding.
Previously, the Iranian commerce minister called on Belarusian business persons to expand trade with Iran up to $1 billion at the opening ceremony of the 10th meeting of the joint economic cooperation committee of the two countries.
He said visa requirements should be removed and the two countries should look seriously at the quality standards of their products and customs agreements.
He added that Iran will be holding an exclusive exhibition in Belarus alongside the first specialized committee between the two countries in the next two months.
The minister said that since the beginning of the Iranian calendar year (March 21), Iran-Belarus trade reached $60 million, and added, forecasts show that this figure will reach $90 million by the end of the year.
Ghazanfari said the Belarus Investment Opportunities Forum in Tehran on October 5th was a positive move for enhancing economic relations and the participation of Belarusian businessmen in the ongoing Tehran International Industry Fair (TIIF 2010) is another event which has created a good chance to close some deals.
Over 12 important scientific projects and some 50 lesser important technological projects are being implemented jointly by the two countries, he said.
The commerce minister cited the upcoming launching of a truck production line in Tabriz, up to $1 billion investment by Iranians in technical and engineering projects in Belarus, negotiations for modernization of agricultural machinery by Iranian investors in Belarus, as well as constructing a hospital, a copper factory and other buildings in Belarus as projects being implemented by investors