Baku.1 April.REPORT.AZ/ The newly appointed Consul General of Iran in Nakhchivan Mansour Airoum gave an interview to Report News Agency. The text of the interview reads as below:
- How do you assess the cooperation between Nakhchivan and Iran, in particular with neighboring provinces of Iran with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic?
- During the past year between the two countries were held four high-level meetings in Baku and Tehran, as well as the meetings held in the framework of international conferences. Also, there was an exchange of delegations at the level of ministries and institutions in the field of economics, politics and issues in the region and borders. This shows that the relationship between the two countries are moving in the right direction and are developing rapidly. I hope that in the future we will see further development of bilateral relations in all fields, especially in the field of economics.
- How would you assess the economic relations of Nakhchivan with Iran?
- The two countries are interested and serious in intent for the development of economic relations. As for Nakhchivan, we see the free border crossing by citizens of the two countries, which means that there are good opportunities to increase the trade turnover between the parties. During the last days of my stay here, I met with officials of Nakhchivan, and noticed that we can increase the level of economic and trade relations between the two countries, as well as with regional structures in Iran, in particular the province of West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan and Ardabil.
- How many Iranian tourists visited Nakhchivan last year?
- Over the past 8 months, the number of Iranians visiting Nakhchivan increased. I do not have exact figures, but according to reports, but in a day on both sides of the border crossing 3 thousand people.

- Do you expect visits from Iran, or the implementation of projects in Nakhchivan?
- Iranian state policy is to have good, friendly relations with all countries in the world, and the neighboring countries of Iran, particularly Azerbaijan, are of great importance for us. We seriously intend to increase the level of political and economic relations with Azerbaijan, and we hope to implement a number of joint projects both in Iran and in Nakhchivan, in particular in the field of tourism and trade. We want to intensify the work of the Chamber of Commerceç that the businessmen could often met each other and discuss. We also want to increase investments in the Azerbaijani side bordering on Nakhchivan free trade zone "Araz", as well as to increase investments of Iranian businessmen in Nakhchivan.
- Speaking of the Free Trade Zone "Araz" is observed whether activity of Azerbaijani businessmen in this area?
- Currently, there are several Azerbaijani businessmen, mainly in the petrochemical industry, and they have invested in this area. We also have a program to attract investors.
- What issues will be the focus of your attention during your work as a consul general?
- As I have said, will focus on economic and trade issues. I hope that with the help of Nakhchivan officials we can further strengthen our cooperation. This will be my main goal during the stay in beautiful Nakhchivan.