Vaezi who also serves as Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, is in the Russian cultural capital to attend the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2017).

The three-day event kicked off on Thursday with the participation of over 12,000 people including the incumbent and former senior officials of the participating countries and the UN representative.

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Petroleum for International Affairs and Trading Amir-Hossein Zamaninia, Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Mohammad Khoddadi and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mahdi Sanaei also attended the SPIEF 2017 public and special panels.

During Vaezi and Novak meeting which took place on the sidelines of the SPIEF 2017, Novak as the Russian co-chairman Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission, hailed the progress of the two countries’ economic cooperation in the past four years.

Meanwhile, Vaezi, who is Novak’s Iranian counterpart in the commission, noted that there is political commitment for boost of ties in both Tehran and Moscow in the second term of President Hassan Rouhani in office.

Rouhni was re-elected for another four-years in office in Iran’s May 19 presidential election winning a landslide victory with garnering 57 percent of the cast ballots (over 23.4 million).
The volume of Iran-Russia trade exchange experienced 70 percent growth in 2016, Vaezi said.

Novak and Vaezi discussed the roadmap for cooperation in various fields including oil, gas, electricity and transit.

Participants of the SPIEF 2017, reviewed major international economic and social challenges, Middle East situation, regional crises, future of the world and relations among the countries as the major topics of the event which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.