SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan, September 26. Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Iran has increased by 18 percent to $503 million over the past five years, Trend reports.
This became known during the meeting between Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov and Minister of Economy and Finance of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati on the margins of the 9th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) taking place in Samarkand.
The sides noted that the number of joint ventures has tripled in the last five years and now stands at 254 units.
The meeting also reviewed the current state and prospective areas of further development of Uzbek-Iranian trade, economic, and investment cooperation.
The parties agreed on several measures to intensify mutual trade, concerning the creation of a favorable trade regime and the development of cooperation in the field of e-commerce.
The dates of the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission between Uzbekistan and Iran and a joint business forum, which will attract major Iranian companies to strengthen cooperation between representatives of business circles of the two countries, have also been set.
Following the meeting, the sides also reached agreements to speed up the development of bilateral documents in the field of insurance and the creation of mechanisms for joint financing of major projects.
To note, the volume of trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Iran reached $255.8 million from January through July. This indicator decreased by 17.2 percent compared to the same period last year ($299.9 million).