KUWAIT -- Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah described Tehran-Kuwait ties as "profound."

Addressing an inaugural ceremony in Kuwait city for the newly completed, joint venture Iran-Kuwait steel factory, he stressed that the completion of the project is an indication of the acceptance of the idea that joint industrial projects can be successfully undertaken by two neighboring states.

The plant is also a sign of the friendly economic and political relations existing between the two countries, he added.

Speaking in the same ceremony, Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Es'haq Jahangiri noted that economic, trade and industrial cooperation between the two countries has been increasing in the past few years.

Referring to the great economic potentials of both states, he called for productive collaboration that would exploit these potentials to the fullest to their mutual advantage.

The inauguration of this joint venture steel factory boosts Tehran-Kuwait already extensive bilateral cooperation in the areas of industry and mines even further, Jahangiri added.

The Iranian steel industry has an annual production of 7.5 million tons which practically meets the entire needs of the country, he said.

Voicing Iran's readiness to enter into joint ventures in the various areas of Kuwaiti industry and mines, the Iranian minister called on the two countries' investors to exert greater efforts toward establishing closer ties by the two sides.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Minister of Industries and Commerce Salah Abdulreza Khurshid said that the newly inaugurated steel factory is a joint effort of the two countries' private sectors in line with ongoing efforts to expand bilateral ties.

He stressed that joint ventures of the kind would benefit both states, and expressed hope problems facing the two countries' trade exchanges will be settled soon.

The Iran-Kuwait steel factory was completed at a cost of $65 million.