Massoud Mirkazemi left Tehran for Tashkent Monday morning to attend the ninth session of the Joint Economic Commission between the two countries.

The session will consider expansion of economic and trade cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan in the fields of energy, transportation, communications, agriculture, tourism, science and culture.

During his stay in the Uzbek capital, Mirkazemi is scheduled to hold meetings with the county’s top officials, including the prime minister, deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and the economy minister.

The value of trade between the two countries in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2007 - March 20, 2008) was $237 million, with Iranian exports to Uzbekistan standing at $58 million.

Cotton, clay soil and metal profiles made up the main items of Iran’s imports from Uzbekistan, while petrochemical products, ceramics and Pistachios were the latter’s main imports from the Islamic Republic.