TEHRAN - The specialized working groups of the 17th Iran-Russia Joint Economic Committee have started meeting in Tehran to discuss areas of cooperation before the main event which is due to be held on Wednesday, February 28.

During the first two days of the 17th meeting of the Joint Economic Committee of Iran and Russia, which is being held from Monday to Wednesday (February 26-28), expert meetings will be held and the working groups will present numerous cooperation documents in various fields to Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who are the heads of the joint committee.

Iranian and Russian experts from different economic sectors will explore all avenues in 20 working groups to promote bilateral cooperation and prepare the ground for outlining a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MOU) by beating off the existing challenges.

The mentioned working groups include oil and gas, banking and finance, transportation, information technology, trade and investment, business groups, science and education, energy, standards, sports, customs, agriculture, and industry.

Oji and Novak will sign the cooperation document on the last day of the commission.

Over the past two years Iran and Russia, both facing U.S. sanctions, have developed cooperation in all areas to neutralize the unjust sanctions.

The 16th meeting of the Iran-Russia Joint Economic Committee was held in Russia during October 29-November 1, 2022.

The two countries signed four documents for cooperation in a variety of areas at the end of the mentioned meeting.

The strategic document for the development of bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation was signed by Oji and Novak, who co-chaired the meeting.

A loan MOU was also signed between Iran’s Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ali Fekri and Vladimir Ilyichev, Russia’s deputy economy minister for the signaling of the Incheh Borun-Garmsar railway project.

Meanwhile, a bilateral memorandum was also signed by Mohammad-Hossein Niknam, the director-general of international cooperation at Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and Russia’s Deputy Minister of Health Sergey Glagolov for cooperation in the field of health and medical education.

Also, another MOU was signed between an Iranian and a Russian holding for the implementation of EPC projects for product transfer pipelines.

According to Kazem Jalali, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Moscow, the export of Iranian products to Russia reached more than $2.0 billion in 2023, which shows a significant increase compared to previous years.

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