Rouhani: No Obstacles to Promotion of Iran-Kyrgyzstan Ties
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said closer economic, cultural, tourism, and scientific ties between Iran and Kyrgyzstan would benefit both nations.
He made the remarks in his meeting with the newly-appointed Kyrgyz ambassador to Tehran Rasan beyk Osman Aliyev after receiving the ambassador’s credentials.
President Rouhani pointed to his negotiations with his Kyrgyz counterpart on setting up an extended railway network for the regional countries which starts from China and stretches to the Southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar and said Railway, road, and air transportation will bring the two countries closer together.
“There is no obstacle in the path of expansion of bilateral ties between the two countries,” he reiterated.
Aliyev for his part extended the greetings of Kyrgyz president and emphasized expansion of ties with Tehran. “Today Iran is a global power with high capacities and Kyrgyzstan welcomes improving ties with Tehran,” added the ambassador.
Since the independence of Kyrgyz Republic in 1991, Iran has had good diplomatic and economic ties with the Central Asia country.
Iran mainly exports clothing, nuts, paints and flooring to Kyrgyzstan and imports meat, grain and steel scraps. The two countries trade in agriculture and capital goods. Iran and Kyrgyzstan hope to up the annual trade turnover to $100 million.
In negotiations held during a visit of Kyrgyz officials to Iran in July 2012, Iran expressed a wish to pour more than $1 billion into short-term projects in Kyrgyzstan and more than $10 billion into long-term projects.
