Azerbaijan's Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev met with Iran's East Azerbaijan Province Head Ahmed Alirza Beygi, the MEHR news agency reported.
During the meeting Beygi noted the great potential for the development of the Azerbaijan-Iran tourism. The creation of joint tourist companies will further develop relations between the two countries in this area, he said.
The province is ready to provide joint travel companies with cars and buses, as well as to make some concessions for tourism activities, Beygi said.
Regarding the issue of building the Julfa-Bilasuvar railway, he said the opening of the railway will serve to further develop bilateral cooperation.
More than 2 million tourists annually visit Azerbaijan and 350,000 of them are Iranian citizens, Garayev noted. He agreed with Beygi on the effectiveness of joint tourism companies to promote Azerbaijan-Iran partnership in this field.
Iran and Azerbaijan have a common culture and all possible efforts should be undertaken for the mutual promotion of cultural values in the two countries.
Garayev is on visit to Iran to attend events forming the Days of Azerbaijani Culture festival running in Tehran and Tabriz from Sept. 27. He is accompanied by a 65-person delegation comprising Azerbaijani cultural representatives. The event features the presentation of a tourism stand, photo and book exhibitions and film screenings.