Regular maritime line btw Iran, West Africa to be launched

Alireza Payman-Pak made the remarks on the sideline of the International Economic Cooperation Conference between Iran and West African States in Tehran on Monday, where he also said that “One of the programs of the the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade was to develop the trade between Iran and Africa, which, despite its various potentials, had been neglected for some reasons.”

Last year, our exports to the whole continent of Africa grew by 100% and this year the gigure increased by 10-15% and reached 1.2-1.3 billion dollars, noted the head of the TPOI.

Referring to the great potential of West Africa in economy and mineral sources,  Payman-Pak continued that the main issue is ship transportation, which will soon be launched with the cooperation of the private sector.

The ship has been procured and the permits for launching the line have also been obtained, he added.

Regarding the flight issues, Peyman-Pak said that negotiations took place and permits were obtained adding that one or two airliners will launch flights.

According to Payman-Pak 50 people from 10 African countries attended today’s Conference, which can lay the ground for more cooperation.

“Based on previous plans, we will have an agreement and a contract worth 2 billion dollars in this meeting, which has been negotiated and agreed upon for several months. We will also send delegations to the African Union,” Peyman-Pak, who is also the deputy industry minister further pointed out.

Mahdi Safari, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, who also participated in the Conference, stated that the economy of Iran and the African continent complement each other, and due to their abundant capacities and potentials, significant achievements can be achieved.

“If we have good technology in the mining sector and we can complement the existing capacities and capablitis, we can establish various cases of cooperation,” Safari further added.

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