Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Feb. 9 / Trend D.Azizov /
Uzbekistan and Iran can greatly expand cooperation fields, Iranian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Ali Mardoniy Fard told journalists.
"There are many spheres of cooperation between our countries and they are stipulated by many factors, including Iran and Uzbekistan's strategic location in their regions," Ali Mardoniy Fard said.
As head of the diplomatic mission said, transport communications, agriculture, textile industry, energy are currently the priority directions in economic cooperation between the two countries.
Fard noted the Uzbekistan's opportunity to use Iranian territory for access to the sea and transportation of its products to global markets, the opportunity to import high quality Iranian goods at reasonable prices amongst the factors contributing to the development of cooperation between the two countries.
Necessary conditions for expansion of cooperation are provided by a solid legal base consisting of almost 80 intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents.
The ambassador noted the significance of a five-party agreement on establishment of the Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran - Oman - Qatar international transport communications corridor, created upon initiative of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
He also noted the role of the chambers of commerce of the two countries in the development of business cooperation. As a part of the agreement on cooperation between the chambers, conditions were created for expansion of their collaboration. Iran's business circles are particularly interested in textiles and cotton produced in Uzbekistan, and therefore they increased their participation in traditional cotton fairs in Uzbekistan. Developing cooperation in tourism is of great interest to Iranian tourism companies.
Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Iran exceeded $ 350 million in 2012 and this figure can be increased considerably to the mutual advantage of both countries, Fard said.
The Iranian ambassador said that a meeting of the Uzbek-Iranian intergovernmental commission for cooperation has to be held in a short run, during which it is planned to discuss specific areas of cooperation in the near future, including economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
As Fard noted, he was much honored to be appointed an ambassador to Uzbekistan.
"Our people maintained close ties in culture, economics and politics for over three thousand years. Following the establishment of diplomatic relations in May 1992, due to long historical and cultural ties between the two countries relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Uzbekistan were based on mutual respect and mutual benefit," Fard said.
"In 2013, which was named a year of wellbeing and prosperity by Uzbek President, we will certainly witness even greater progress in Uzbekistan and considerable growth in cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the economic field," he said.