Mr Hosein Abbasnejad Director General of Port and Maritime Organization of Hormozgan Province expressed its readiness to prepare facilities in the Bandar Abbas port for the Kazakhstan, which would facilitate the trade and transport of grain.
A Kazakh delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin visited the Bandar Abbas port and "expressed interest in creating their own transshipment facilities on the coast of the Persian Gulf," the Kazakh premier ministry’s office reported on November 3.
The Iranian side agreed to reserve land for the construction of an inland terminal in the port of Bandar Abbas. A working group will be created jointly with the administration of the port of Bandar Abbas and representatives of Kazakh businesses to study the possibilities of building silos to increase Kazakh grain transshipment volumes.
During the visit, the Kazakh deputy PM, Serik Zhumangarin signed an agreement with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari to increase grain exports. They also discussed the possibility of increasing the volume of trade between Kazakhstan and Iran to $3 billion and boosting bilateral agricultural trade to $1 billion.
"We are interested in increasing the volume of mutual trade in agro-industrial products with Iran up to $1 billion, as well as deliveries to the markets of Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia and East Africa, which are new to Kazakhstan," Zhumangarin said.
He said that “our proposal to Iran is not only about building a grain terminal, but also includes related structures and equipment, including wheat and flour warehouses, cold stores and equipment for storing meat,” and added that the private sector of Kazakhstan will pay for the implementation of this project, in case of reaching an agreement with Iran.
The Iranian and Kazakh officials also discussed the possibility of developing existing container routes in the direction of Iran and in transit through this country. Currently, there are three railroad routes, and favorable tariff conditions have been established for container shipments in the direction of Iran and further to third countries.
Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi said on October 31 that “Kazakhstan is going to cooperate with Iran in rail, road, sea and air transportation and cargo transfer through the North-South and East-West corridors".
Currently, between the two countries, there is a memorandum on the supply of grain crops from Kazakhstan to Iran in the amount of 1 million tons, as well as a memorandum on Kazakhstan-Iran cooperation in trade and transit of agricultural products for the supply of Kazakh grain and oil crops, vegetable oils, confectionery, meat products, and the supply of vegetables, fruits and dairy products from Iran.
In mid-June, the Kazakh and Iranian presidents attended a ceremony to launch a train service from Kazakhstan to Turkey via Iran. The Iran-Kazakhstan transit pact signed on May 23 requires cargo from China to Europe to switch to the Iranian route. Before this, Chinese cargo was transported to Europe via Russia by a land route north of the Caspian Sea.