A host of high-ranking Iranian and Azerbaijani officials opened Iran Trade Center, devised to boost commercial ties between the two countries, in the capital city of Baku.
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Rahmani, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Rufat Mammadov, Iran- Azerbaijan Joint Chamber of Commerce President Hossein Pirmoazen and Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Javad Jahangirzadeh attended the opening ceremony.
The trade center with the aim of providing advisory, legal and commercial services to Iranian and Azerbaijani businessmen has been established by Iran- Azerbaijan Joint Chamber of Commerce, Hossein Pirmoazen said.
He added that the commercial arbitration is one of the problems that prevent boosting trade ties between businessmen from the two countries, which is expected to be settled by the establishment of a center of arbitration at the trade center.
Hossein Pirmoazen who is also member of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) board of directors invited businessmen from Iran’s private sector to join the trade center saying, “The Republic of Azerbaijan is the gateway for reaching the Central Asian countries’ markets.”
Iran- Azerbaijan Joint Chamber of Commerce president further said that negotiations between high-ranking Iranian and Azerbaijani officials regarding improving customs regulations and facilitating trade are underway and the two countries are further improving cooperation under new joint projects
Earlier in mid-March, Tehran and Baku agreed to expand bilateral ties and mutual cooperation in different fields of agriculture. Iranian Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand and his Azerbaijani counterpart Inam Karimov discussed mutual cooperation in different fields of agriculture, including extra-territorial cultivation, livestock quarantine and food security, during a meeting of the 13th Summit of Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Cooperation on March 14.
A view of the Iranian trade centre in Baku. IRAN CHAMBER NEWSROOM
Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Venture
The two countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly manufacture bus and lorries.
The document was signed between Iran’s trailer manufacturer Maral Sanat Group, represented by its Managing Director Reza Rostami and Azerbaijan’s Azermash CEO Emin F. Akhundov on Friday 19 April.
The signing ceremony was presided by Iranian Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani and Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev at Hajigabul Industrial Estate, 110 kilometres south of Baku.
The joint venture is expected to produce 500 units of different buses in the first phase and 1000 buses and trucks in the second phase using the Iranian and European Union equipment, according to the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry. The total cost of the project is 10 million euros. In the first stage it is planned to invest 6 million euros and 4 million euros in the second stage.
Watch Video: Iran-Azerbaijan kick off joint venture to produce bus, lorries (Source: AZERTAC English)
Mustafayev underlined the high level of political and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Iran. The trade turnover between the two countries increased by 74% last year and 4.5 times in the first two months of 2019, according to the Azerbaijani minister.
Within the framework of joint projects between Azerbaijan and Iran, cars are produced in Neftchala Industrial Estate and a joint pharmacy plant will be built in Pirallahi Industrial Park.
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Rahmani underlined the importance of reciprocal visits of the presidents of the “friendly and neighboring” countries - Iran and Azerbaijan, intensive meetings and signed documents in boosting cooperation between the two countries.
The two neighbouring countries are seeking to increase their bilateral trade relations. Azerbaijan is the point where International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), that starts in India, connects Iran to Europe.
In a bid to push for more international transit, Tehran opened a railway that connects the Iranian city of Qazvin with Rash in the north. The railroad will later be connected to Astrakhan to link Iran with Azerbajian.
However, much of the trade is still carried out by land, that's why Tehran and Baku signed an e-TIR agreement in March in a bid to facilitate border transit.