TEHRAN - Iranian Agriculture Minister Kazem Khavazi held talks with his Azeri counterpart Inam Karimov in a videoconference meeting on Wednesday to discuss the expansion of cooperation in agricultural sectors, Mehr News Agency reported.

In the meeting, Khavazi expressed Iran’s readiness for cooperation and exchange of views on common agricultural issues and the implementation of the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) previously signed between the two countries.

“President Hassan Rouhani emphasizes the expansion of economic relations with Azerbaijan, and we believe that there are a variety of common fields for economic cooperation between the two sides,” the Iranian minister said.

Khavazi further expressed Iran’s readiness to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan in scientific fields including greenhouse cultivation, introducing new cultivars, embryo transfer, and genetic materials.

“Agricultural Research Education And Extension Organization which is a subsidiary of the Agriculture Ministry has more than 3,000 researchers who can cooperate well with the Republic of Azerbaijan in the various scientific fields,” the official said.

Inam Karimov, for his part, hailed the strategic relations of Iran and Azerbaijan and noted that agriculture is one of the major areas for strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Stating that the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan have met each other 13 times so far, he expressed hope that the agricultural cooperation between these two neighbors continues.

Mentioning the two neighbors’ collaborations in the field of agricultural equipment, Karimov said, “I hope that in the near future Iranian companies and Iranian production equipment enter the Azerbaijani markets.”

According to Karimov, agricultural products like fruits, and vegetables are the most traded products of the two countries.

He finally mentioned a comprehensive cooperation document signed between the two countries, saying: “It has been about 26 years since the signing of the cooperation document between Iran and Azerbaijan, and it seems that many parts of this document need to be updated.”

EF/MA