BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 27. Kazakhstan is interested in cooperating with Iran in the field of transport to unlock new markets, Serik Zhumangarin, Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan said, Trend reports, citing the press service of the Ministry.
The statement was made in the framework of the 18th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical, and cultural cooperation between Kazakhstan and Iran.
We consider Iran as a trade hub that will allow us, thanks to a developed trade and logistics infrastructure, to increase exports to Africa and Middle Eastern countries,” Zhumangarin noted.
Kazakhstan also encouraged Iran to offer a preferential tariff regime for the rail transportation of Kazakh goods to Türkiye. Zhumangarin said that this would aid the development of the trans-Iranian route toward Türkiye.
“It is advisable to work out tariff relief for transit cargo towards Türkiye through the Razi-Kapikoy checkpoint. The railway infrastructure at the Turkish Razi checkpoint can handle up to 2 million tons per year. The current annual volume of transshipment in the Turkish direction does not exceed 800,000 tons”, the minister added.
Kazakhstan and Iran enjoy swiftly developing relations. Previously it was reported that trade turnover between the two nations increased by 20 percent and reached $500 million in 2022 and the leaders of both nations set an ambitious target of reaching a trade turnover of $3 billion.