TEHRAN - Kazakhstan is considering to ease visa rules for Iranian traders and travelers as of the next spring, Kazakh ambassador to Tehran Askhat Orazbay has said.

Kazakhstan is expected to sign a visa facilitation agreement with Iran in the spring of 2020, based on which Iranian tourist groups will be granted entry visas without the need to invitation [letter from the host]. Moreover, 90-day visas will be issued for Iranian businessmen and traders, ISNA quoted the envoy as saying on Saturday.

The agreement will not make a change in visa fees, which has been $60 for nationals from all countries, he noted.

“The number of foreign arrivals in Kazakhstan is low, because we had never cared about tourism before, and other industries were more important to our country, but now we are more turned into tourism as an easier approach to earn money. That is why we have defined a tourist zone in Kazakhstan and we are trying to attract more tourists by facilitating the visa,” the news agency quoted the ambassador as saying.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Orazbay added that direct flights between the two countries are expected to be increased by 2020.

Iran has taken some similar steps to increase its revenues from tourism under U.S. sanctions, which the Trump administration reinstated last November.

Eelier this year, with the aim of fostering tourism, the Iranian government waived visa requirements for passport holders from China and Hong Kong.

The decisions are made to attract more foreign tourists to the country; however, it is a unilateral measure i.e. Iranian tourists visiting China or Hong Kong still need visas.

AFM/MG