TEHRAN, Oct. 19 (MNA) – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said on Monday that Tehran and Kabul will explore ways to boost cooperation in the energy and transportation sectors in the upcoming joint economic commission meeting.

Iran and Afghanistan are due to hold their 6th Joint Economic Committee meeting in Kabul on October 25-27.

Ardakanian said, “The cooperation in the projects such as Herat-Khaf railroad, customs cooperation and border markets as well as energy ties will be addressed during the upcoming meeting.”

Since the chairmanship of the meeting has been assigned to the Energy Ministry, he added, issues such as cooperation in the field of renewable energies will also be discussed during the session.

Earlier in October, Ardakanian held talks with Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar through video conference on the development of cooperation in various energy sectors while considering issues that could be raised in the joint committee meeting.

In this online meeting, the ministers also agreed to prepare their proposals on a range of important issues in bilateral relations, including the application of preferential tariffs on commodity items desired by the Afghan side and the issues pertaining to the border markets as well as customs cooperation.

The proposals will be handed to the two sides on the sidelines of the sixth Joint Economic Committee meeting.

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