TEHRAN – Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) hosted an Iran-Uzbekistan business forum on Saturday concurrent with the visit of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Tehran.

As reported by the ICCIMA portal, the forum was attended by high-ranking officials from both countries including Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Abbas Ali-Abadi, Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov, and ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie.

Representatives from 50 different Uzbek companies also participated in the event.

The Uzbek companies attending the forum were active in different areas including agriculture, sweets, chemicals, cosmetics and drugs, construction materials, digital technologies, mining and geology, irrigation systems, plastic and textile industries, electronic equipment, leather, jewelry, and auto industries, energy, and transportation.

During the meeting, Shafeie proposed the formation of an industrial committee between the industrialists of Iran and Uzbekistan with the aim of identifying projects with appropriate investment opportunities.

He noted that the primary goal of the ICCIMA for this year is to increase the current trade between Iran and Uzbekistan by $400 million to one billion dollars.

“There are some problems in this regard, the most important of which is the development of transportation cooperation, especially in the rail sector. This is a major obstacle to the expansion of trade between the two countries and has caused heavy losses to the traders of the two countries. If the problem is not solved with the cooperation of third countries, including Turkmenistan, the problem will continue,” Shafeie added.

He invited the economic operators of both sides to invest in the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC) and Iran’s Makran Coast projects and said: “Tourism is also currently neglected, while health tourism alone can lead to high turnover between the two countries.”

Further in the forum, Kudratov stated that the extensive relations between the governments of Iran and Uzbekistan is a good motivation for economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries, and considered holding such conferences effective in line with economic goals.

Referring to the threefold increase in the level of trade exchanges between Iran and Uzbekistan over the last three years, he said: “It is possible to increase the trade up to one billion dollars, and in the meantime, the conclusion of a preferential trade agreement, which is on the agenda of the governments, will be very effective.”

EF/MA