Russia and Iran have concluded all necessary bilateral agreements for the mutual use of Mir payment cards, Iranian Deputy Tourism Minister told TASS on Friday.

Iran PressEurope: Ali-Asghar Shalbafian was speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum event in Kazan, Tatarstan.

"All bilateral agreements between the countries have been reached. We are waiting for confirmation from the central banks of both countries as to when the system will go live. The launch date depends on the decision of the central banks of the two countries," he said.

The 14th International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum 2023" is being held on May 18-20 at the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Center (IEC). More than 7,000 people from 85 countries around the world and 84 Russian regions are expected to take part in the forum events. In total, the forum will feature about 200 events, and at least 100 business and other agreements are expected to be signed.

Iran, Russia develop their tourism

By signing the MoU on tourism cooperation between Iran and Russia, the two countries took a big step in increasing the number of tourists.

According to Iran Press News Agency, a comprehensive MoU on tourism cooperation between Iran and Russia was signed early on Friday by Ali Asghar Shalbafian, Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, and Dmitry Vakhrukov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in Moscow.

Facilitating the issuance of tourist visas, and visa waivers for tourists come Iran in groups, supporting private sector activists in tourism on the two sides, helping to develop the infrastructure of the tourism industry, providing services needed to tourists, and increasing the number of flights to different cities of Iran and Russia are among the items that were agreed on.The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum event in Kazan, Tatarstan.

In the negotiations of the delegations of the two countries, Alireza Peyman-Pak, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade and Head of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) of Iran, Deputy Ministers of Jihad Agriculture, National Standards Organization of Iran, Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tatarstan, Head of Tourism Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan and Directors of companies active in the Russian tourism industry were present.The document is important and facilitates the travel of citizens between the two countries, Shalbafian and Vakhrukov told IRIB.

Shalbafian added: "Russia can become one of the tourism hubs for Iran."

He added: "Before the corona pandemic, the tourism capacity of Russians was about 10 million people, which is estimated at more than 10 billion dollars."

"From today Russian tourists can get their visas at the airport and passengers who travel to Iran in a group do not need the visa," the deputy Minister added.

Referring to the interest of Russians to invest in Iran's tourism industry Shalbafian said: Russians' investment in Iran's tourism industry started months ago.

Dmitry Vakhrukov also said: "We expect to launch visa-free trips for tourists from Iran to Russia this summer."

He added: "In addition, from the beginning of summer, Iranian citizens can get an electronic visa to travel to the Russian Federation."

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