TEHRAN- During a meeting between Iranian Agriculture Minister Javad Sadati-Nejad and Belarusian Ambassador to Tehran Dmitry Koltsov on Sunday evening, the two sides explored the ways for the expansion of agricultural cooperation.

In the meeting, the Iranian minister stressed that through their joint capabilities, Iran and Belarus can cooperate and work together in the Eurasian region.

Mentioning the impacts of the sanctions, Satadi-Nejad said, “Iran can use the capacity of fisheries, agriculture, agricultural inputs and agricultural equipment and machinery of Belarus; Iranian farmers were satisfied with the quality of Belarusian potash fertilizer, but under the conditions of sanctions, the import of this fertilizer to Iran was stopped.”

The minister stated that the sanctions made it impossible for Iran to meet its needs in the field of heavy tractors, and expressed hope that these problems would be resolved by developing relations.

The Belarusian ambassador for his part said that Belarus welcomes the development of relations with Iran in the field of agriculture, and the important task of the embassy is to develop economic relations between the two countries.

Belarus has good agricultural products and one of our key tasks in the field of agriculture is joint projects with Iranian investors, which has also been successful, the envoy underlined.

“We are ready to import fruits, nuts and vegetables from Iran. Also, Iranian tomato paste and sauces are very good”, he added.

“There are good capacities in Belarus in the field of meat, eggs, and dairy products, and we are ready to offer all the facilities that exist in the field of agriculture and trade in Belarus to Iran”, the envoy further reiterated.

Noting that the relations between the two countries will not be limited to the field of agricultural products, Koltsov said: "In the past years, four shipments of potash fertilizer were exported to Iran and we are ready to export again in this field."

“One of Belarus' fields of activity is agricultural equipment such as tractors, combine harvesters and attached equipment for agricultural machinery, and we need to cooperate with Iranian companies in this field”, the ambassador stated.

At the end, the envoy expressed hope that next year an interim agreement to establish a free trade zone in the Eurasian region between Iran and Belarus would become permanent.

MA/MA

Photo: Iranian Agriculture Minister Javad Sadati-Nejad (2nd L) and Belarusian Ambassador to Tehran Dmitry Koltsov (2nd R)