Page 23 - IRANRptOct19

reserves
However, as restrictions continue on trade and withdrawal of cash from forex reserves, the country is looking for ways to find new revenues of hard currency.
5.2​ FTA, multilateral agreements
Meat and banking industries initial focus as Iran and Kazakhstan sign MOU on economic cooperation
Potential for building up EEU trade with South Asia “very significant” says Commission official
Presidents of Iran, Turkey discuss
Iran and Kazakhstan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on boosting economic ties, Azer News has reported the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture as saying.
Late October will see Iran enter into a temporary ​free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)​, the Moscow-led trade bloc of which Kazakhstan is a member. To the Iranians, it may provide for a key step in opening up new import routes for essential items including foodstuffs and grains. Meat imports, typically purchased by Iran from faraway sellers such as Brazil, may be partially replaced with shipments from Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s biggest economy and just over the Caspian Sea from the Islamic Republic.
The MoU was signed in late September in Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan during the 16th meeting of the two countries’ intergovernmental commission on trade and economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov and the Iranian Minister of Agriculture Mahmoud Hojjati met to push ahead with plans to link their economies.
As part of the new cooperation, Iran is set to open bank branches in Kazakhstan.
It is also expected that visa restrictions between the two nations will be relaxed. In a separate meeting, Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin said, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency, that “Kazakhstan is fully prepared to cooperate with Iran in mining, pharmaceuticals, transportation and also to increase the number of flights between the two countries.”
Rail and road transportation cooperation were also among the issues discussed by Mamin and Hojati, the official press release on the meeting noted.
Officials should be tasked with developing effective trade routes between member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and India, Pakistan and other nations of South Asia via Iran, chairman of EEU regulatory body Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has said, IRNA reported on September 28.
Tigran Sargsyan called for the establishment of a working group to explore how infrastructure in Iran can be integrated into trade routes open to EEU members Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan and Armenia to open up trade potential with South Asia. Generated trade from subsequent initiatives could be “very significant”, he added. After meeting an Iranian trade and business delegation, he added that sub-working groups in various fields—especially in banking, finance, trade and customs—would be needed.
Sargsyan also reportedly talked about how using national currencies in bilateral trade, staying away from the dollar, is effective in helping trading parties avoid US sanctions. He called for expert-level economic groups to study and advance the practice for the EEU.
India has a long-term lease on Iran’s only oceanic port, Chabahar, and is developing it in an agreement with Tehran.
The presidents of neighbouring Turkey and Iran focused on expanding bilateral trade, forming banking ties and switching trade transactions to
23​ IRAN Country Report​ October 2019 www.intellinews.com