TEHRAN- In his visit to Tehran, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev discussed expansion of economic and energy ties between Iran and his country with his Iranian counterpart Farhad Dejpasand and Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian.

In a meeting between Dejpasand and Mustafayev, which was held at the place of Iranian Ministry of Economy on Tuesday, the two sides agreed on signing monetary, financial and banking contacts, and also expanding economic cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, especially on the completion of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project.

The Iranian minister said that his country always considers development of relations with its neighbors, especially Azerbaijan Republic, as one of its strategic policies.

He lamented the insufficient speed of the progress of some joint projects between Iran and Azerbaijan, including the final stages of the Rasht-Astara railway project, and proposed establishment of a committee to supervise the implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries, a suggestion that was welcomed by the Azerbaijani side.

Dejpasand also called for signing a bilateral monetary and financial agreement and expansion of banking cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, saying that the cooperation in economic field should be at the same level as the political relations between the two countries.

The Azerbaijani minister, for his part, welcomed his Iranian counterpart’s suggestions regarding signing of a bilateral monetary, financial and banking agreement and expressed his country’s readiness to cooperate with Iran on completion of the remaining parts of the Rasht-Astara railway project.

Mustafayev also referred to a 74-percent increase in trade between the two countries in the previous year, and put the value of bilateral trade at $450 million, saying that Iran’s share of the figure is $420 million.

The minister further called for increasing the shares of both sides in the bilateral trade.

He also voiced his country’s full support to the Iranian investors.

Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee meeting to be held in near future

Mustafayev also visited Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian at the place of Iranian Energy Ministry on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Ardakanian said that the next meeting of Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee will be held in Azerbaijani capital city, Baku, in the near future.

He evaluated Iran-Azerbaijan energy cooperation as fruitful and said; “We have a contract on electricity exchange between the two countries and our cooperation in the electricity and water sectors is moving forward.”

The Iranian minister also said that his country is considering plans to connect its power grid to Russia through Azerbaijan to help synchronize Iran’s power system with that of Russia.

He also added that during his talks with the Azeri side, the possibility of electricity cooperation with Turkey through Azerbaijan was discussed and the two sides agreed to take the necessary steps in this regard.

Mustafayev, for his part, said that besides their bilateral cooperation, Iran and Azerbaijan are trying to lay the ground for trilateral cooperation in a way to take the advantage of possible opportunities, adding, “In our today meeting we discussed trilateral cooperation between Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia, between Iran-Azerbaijan-Georgia, and between Iran-Azerbaijan-Turkey and we believe that there are many potentials in this due.”

MA/MA