Director-general of Mazandaran Province’s Customs Bureau, Abolqasem Yousefinejad, says Kazakhstan will make new investments in northern ports of Iran, namely Mazandaran’s Amirabad Port in the near future.
The avenues for cooperation between Iran’s Amirabad and Kazakhstan’s Aktau Port were discussed on the sidelines of Iran Expo 2015, which opened in Aktau on Tuesday.
The event is seen as the biggest economic event between Tehran and Astana and will run until July 4.
Mazandaran, which is the organizer of the expo, accounts for the majority of the participants in the event. According to Yousefinejad, provincial manufacturers already have signed lucrative contracts with Kazakhstan’s businesses.
In addition to Mazandaran, companies from North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi and Golestan provinces are also taking part, offering products and services in industry, construction, energy, food industry, livestock and poultry, textile and engineering.
The event is aimed at taking advantage of incentives offered by Kazakh ports, such as low trade tariffs, to boost trade ties with the country, which is viewed by Iran as a gateway to Russia and other Eurasian countries.
Iran-Kazakhstan trade over the past Iranian year (ended March 20) registered a $126-million surplus in favor of Iran. Kazakhstan is Iran’s 10th biggest importer as Iranian exports to the CIS country reached $210 million during the period.
