Results of the Caspian Economic Forum: What the Five Countries Agreed on in Tehran
The Third Caspian Economic Forum was held in Tehran on February 17-18. Its participants considered the prospects for expanding economic cooperation and increasing trade volumes between the Caspian countries, developing transport routes and increasing transit traffic, joint exploitation of energy resources, sustainable management of the Caspian Sea resources and environmental protection issues.
Representatives of the Caspian countries supported the exchange of experience in the field of hydrometeorology, noted the need for further development of tourism. Following the meeting, the parties signed a Joint Communique containing key areas of further work within the framework of five-sided cooperation.
"The Caspian Economic Forum provides the Caspian Five countries with a valuable opportunity to discuss new paths of economic development, environmental protection and strengthening regional security with an emphasis on common problems and cooperation goals," Dmitry Volvach, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia said. During the plenary session of the forum, he noted the strategic importance of the Caspian region, which is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. Situated at the junction of the East-West and North-South routes, the region occupies leading positions in the world reserves of natural gas, oil, chromium, uranium, gold and zinc.
A number of specific proposals were voiced at the forum. Representatives of the Caspian countries decided to hold a scientific and practical conference on the problems of the Caspian region at the Kalmyk State University named after B. B. Gorodovikov, the International Conference on Environmental Protection on May 30-31, 2025 in Dushanbe, and in the summer of 2025 - the Caspian Environmental Forum at Dagestan State University.
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref proposed the establishment of a Caspian business forum to pool the trade and economic opportunities of the Caspian countries. According to Iran's IRNA news agency, after the forum, he posted a message on Instagram, mentioning informal talks with officials who attended the Caspian Economic Forum at the Saadabad Teahouse, and wrote: "The Caspian Economic Forum was a good opportunity for informal talks with officials who attended this forum."
The First Vice President said: "Before the official start of the summit, I had a conversation with the prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and the deputy prime minister of Russia at the traditional Saadabad Teahouse; they all emphasized the need to increase trade with Iran. They also talked about the exhibition of Iran's scientific and technological achievements that they visited. Our country's scientific and technological achievements were of interest to them."
ORIENT