Iran is ready to introduce a visa-free regime for Kazakhstan to build bilateral cooperation in various fields. This statement was made by Mojtaba Damirchilu, Iran’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan. “At the moment, Iran has a visa-free regime with some neighboring countries. We may consider the introduction of a visa-free regime to facilitate the movement of citizens of both neighboring countries across state borders,” Damirchilu said.
He added that the question of facilitating the visa regime and reducing the timing of the Kazakh visa receipt for Iranian investors are among the issues being discussed.
“An Iranian businessman who wants to come to Kazakhstan, has to wait almost for a month to get a visa. Everyone understands that time is money for business. And of course, we would like to reduce such a substantial period of time,” the Iranian diplomat said. Simplification of visa regime, he said, is just one of the ways to increase trade between the two countries and foster international cooperation.
“We have a good potential to increase trade and are making significant efforts to exploit new opportunities.”
Damirchilu stressed that developing transportation rail-link between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, would contribute to an increase in turnover. According to him, the parties must also agree on facilitating procedures in the banking sector. It is important for entrepreneurs of the two countries wanting to expand collaboration.
The envoy emphasized that in the first half of 2014 the volume of trade between the two countries was about $ 510 million.
