TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, December 22. Uzbekistan’s Fergana region and Iran’s Mazandaran province have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish direct business contacts and expand trade and economic cooperation,TurkicWorld reports via the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The agreement was formalized during a meeting between the Governor (Hokim) of the Fergana region, Khayrullo Bozorov, and a delegation headed by the Governor of Mazandaran province, Mehdi Rostami, who was on a working visit to Uzbekistan. The discussions were also attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Uzbekistan, Mohammad Ali Iskandari.
During the meeting, both sides underscored that the expansion of mutually beneficial partnerships would serve as a key driver of sustainable economic growth and heightened business activity in the two regions.
In parallel with the official talks, a business forum was convened to facilitate deeper economic engagement. The forum provided a platform for exchanging views on priority areas of cooperation and for presenting concrete proposals aimed at establishing practical and results-oriented collaboration in the near term.
Over the past five years, bilateral trade between Uzbekistan and Iran has doubled, rising from approximately $250 million to nearly $500 million. Investment cooperation has likewise gained momentum: in 2025 alone, around 250 Iranian companies either initiated or expanded their operations in Uzbekistan, reflecting a growing interest among Iranian businesses in the Uzbek market. Building on this positive trajectory, the two sides have set an ambitious target of increasing annual bilateral trade to $2 billion.
