For the first time in 10 years, Tehran and Kiev are set to hold talks on economic cooperation at the level of an intergovernmental commission, said head of Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry’s European Integration Department, Mykhailo Bno-Airiyan.
The Ukrainian KyivPost News Agency quoted him as saying at a press conference in Kiev on Thursday that the negotiations will be held September 15, without specifying the venue.
Trade between Iran and Ukraine has dramatically dropped during the past few years. However, both countries have been recently mulling over expanding ties.
On Wednesday, a business delegation from Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast Province met with members of Iranian joint chamber of commerce in Tehran.
During the meeting, head of the chamber, Sadina Abaei, outlined plans to enroll 200 new Ukrainian traders as to prepare the grounds for expansion of bilateral relations.
She added that the chamber has arranged a meeting in the Ukrainian city of Kherson between Iranian businesspersons and Kherson’s officials for September 25 to discuss investment in the agriculture sector as part of the broader government project known as “Agriculture Beyond Borders.”
The Ukrainian province is one of the candidates for hosting the project, based on which the government will cultivate water-intensive crops in 500,000 hectares of foreign land over the next couple of years.
Dwindling water resources, drought, soil degradation and low productivity in the agriculture sector have prompted Tehran to look for solutions that ensure food security for the country and redress the negative trade balance in agricultural products.
According to Abaei, the September 25 meeting will be aimed at signing agreements on joint implementation of the project and establishing a relevant union.
