MP: Kyrgyz Parliamentary Delegation Due in Tehran in Coming Days
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Parliament Speaker’s Adviser in International Affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam said on Thursday that a Kyrgyz parliamentary delegation is to arrive in Tehran in the coming days.
The Kyrgyz delegation is scheduled to meet Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Sunday and will also have meetings with the country’s other parliamentary, political, and economic officials, said Sheikholeslam.
The agriculture minister of Kyrgyzstan and an economic delegation would accompany the parliamentarians during their three day visit of Iran, he added.
Improvement of bilateral relations , particularly trade and economic ties between the two Muslim nations and members of the Economic Cooperation Organization, is the main item on the agenda of the delegation.
ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states.
In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
In early September, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, in which Rouhani expressed hope that the two countries would further boost cordial ties in all fields in keeping with mutual interests.
The Kyrgyz president, for his part, said that his country seeks close partnership with Iran, particularly in the economic sector.
The SCO -- which has brought together Russia, China and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - was formed in 2001 to fight extremism in the region and enhance border security. It was largely regarded a countermeasure to curb the influence of western alliances such as NATO.
The countries then began to develop coordinated measures to stabilize their economies and maintain growth in Eurasia through multilateral trade and cooperation.
Iran is an observer member of the organization.