TEHRAN – Iran and Azerbaijan have discussed developing cooperation in the areas related to tourism.

Aydin Ismiyev who presides over tourism department at Azerbaijan’s Culture and Tourism Ministry met in Baku with Jalil Jabbari, the director of Iran’s West Azarbaijan Province’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, AzerNews reported on Jan. 27.

During the meeting, Ismiyev touched on the issue of visa simplification, saying that the number of Iranian tourists visiting Azerbaijan and vice versa has considerably ramped up over the past two years.

Ways to enhance cooperation between tourism associate offices and agencies was amongst other topics put forward by Ismiyev.

The Azeri official also invited the Iranian side to take part in “AITF-2017”, an international travel and tourism fair scheduled to be held in Baku on April 6-8.

In Dec. 2016, Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev announced that the country plans to significantly simplify the visa regime for Iranian citizens in 2017. He made the remarks during the 11th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Iran intergovernmental commission on economic, trade and humanitarian cooperation in Baku.

AFM/MG