ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan and Iran have agreed on the establishment of a joint shipping company, Iran’s PressTV news agency reported on April 12.
The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) Mohammad Saeidi announced the news in a Monday interview with official news agency IRNA, saying that the two countries had signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint shipping company in the presence of their presidents in Tehran.
The IRISL chief said the planned freight shipping line would boost bilateral trade through the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali and Kazakh port of Aktau, both on the Caspian Sea.
Iran and Kazakhstan also decided to increase their volume of rail transport through a railroad that links Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
On Monday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani received his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Iranian capital city where the two oversaw the signing of a number of agreements in different areas.
Rouhani said Iranian and Kazakh officials signed 66 documents for cooperation, worth two billion dollars, in the public and private sectors, adding that the agreements mark a “turning point” in mutual relations.
The Iranian president added that bilateral cooperation in the Caspian Sea including marine transportation, tourism and the determination of the landlocked lake’s legal status were also discussed during the talks with the Kazakh leader.
