TEHRAN – Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry is going to hold the 14th Iran-Uzbekistan Joint Economic Committee meeting in the coming days, an official with the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) announced.

Director-General of the TPO’s U.S. and Europe Office Mohammad-Reza Karimzadeh said on Friday that the 14th Iran-Uzbekistan Joint Committee meeting will convene in Tehran on February 20-21, the TPO portal reported.

Expert committees have held talks in recent days to coordinate the preparation of the draft for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries on economic, investment, customs, transportation, energy, health, scientific, technological, tourism, cultural and agricultural arenas, Karimzadeh said.

The official further noted that given the importance of enhancing relations between the private sectors of the two countries, the organizers also plan to hold a seminar on trade opportunities of the two nations on the sidelines of the mentioned meeting at the venue of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) on February 21.

As to the significance of the Joint Economic Committee meeting in developing the trade and economic relations between Iran and Uzbekistan, the Iranian official noted that Uzbekistan is one of the important destination markets for Iranian commodities.

Iran’s exports to Uzbekistan have witnessed a growth in recent months, Karimzadeh said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said on February 17 that the Islamic Republic is going to hold two joint economic committee meetings with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Tehran in the coming days separately.

It is expected that holding such meetings will help sign promising agreements for future cooperation in different fields, Safari noted.

According to the deputy foreign minister, an expertise delegation from Pakistan will also visit Tehran in the near future to discuss collaborations with officials in Iran’s agriculture sector.

Pakistan and Iran have so far shown determination to enhance economic and trade ties between private and administrative sectors of both countries, Safari added.

EF/MA