Iranian, Iraqi provinces sign MoU on trade, industry cooperation

 Iran's Kermanshah and Iraq's Diyala provinces signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in trade, industry, agriculture, health and tourism.

The MoU was signed by governor-generals of Kermanshah and Diyala provinces on Friday.
"We have envisaged three plans for implementing this MoU," Kermanshah Deputy Governor General Ali Asghar Mirzayee said during the meeting.
The Diyala governor general, for his part, said that Diyala is an important and strategic province, and "its access to Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf is one of the advantages of this province".
Iran and Iraq have enjoyed growing ties ever since the overthrow of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, during the 2003 US invasion of the Muslim country.
Early December, top Iranian and Iraqi officials, in a joint news conference in Tehran, stressed the need for the further expansion of mutual cooperation in economic fields.
During the news conference, the Iranian First Vice- President Eshaq Jahangiri and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki reiterated the necessity for increasing exchange of visits between the two countries’ businessmen and trade officials in a bid to further consolidate Iran-Iraq economic ties.
The Iranian first vice-president reiterated that enhancement of bilateral ties tops the agenda of both Tehran and Baghdad, and said “the agreements between Tehran and Baghdad have provided proper opportunities for Iranian businessmen to play a bigger role in the gas and housing industries and other sectors in Iraq”.
The Iraqi prime minister, pointed to his meeting with the Iranian first vice-president, and said, “We agreed to have extensive activities and we also agreed on establishing different ways for conducting (joint) economic activities.”