Nurdinjon Ismoilov made the remarks during a meeting with the provincial governor of Khorasan Razavi province Yaqub Ali Nazari on Sunday in Mahshad, the capital of northeastern Iranian province where he also said that "Economic presence will also lead to an increase in tourists between Uzbekistan and Iran."
"In recent years, the relations between Iran and Uzbekistan have been developing, and we hope that these relations will expand in the future," Ismoilov added.
"The governments of Uzbekistan and Iran have cooperation plans on their agenda. Accordingly, cooperation and contacts between ministries and business people will lead to more action and a stepped-up relationship between the two countries."
The speaker also said that the two countries' parliaments and the parliamentary friendship groups play a very important role in the development of bilateral relations.
Stating that the economic relations between Iran and Uzbekistan need to be greatly expanded, Ismoilov said, "It is hoped that the economic and trade relations between the two countries will be at a favored level and the visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Iran in the near future will lead to the signing of documents that will be followed by the boosting of the economies of the two countries."
"By traveling to Isfahan and Khorasan Razavi provinces, I was able to get acquainted with other potentials of Iran so that a more complete picture of this country can be formed for us," added the speaker of the parliament of Uzbekistan.
Yaqub Ali Nazari, for his part, referred to the tourist attractions and holy Islamic sites in Khorasan Razavi Province and stated that "The Mashhad city hosts about 30 million pilgrims every year." He added that "Every year we witness the presence of lots of people from Central Asian countries for pilgrimage and medical tourism purposes in the city of Mashhad."
"After the visit of the President of Iran to Uzbekistan, the relationship between the two countries expanded by signing documents, and we hope that after the visit of the President of Uzbekistan to Iran, more and better relations will be established between the two countries", Nazari continued.
The governor further suggested introducing a province in Uzbekistan corresponding to Razavi Khorasan so that regional development could also be advanced.
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