Tehran, Abidjan Explore Ways for Broadening Economic Cooperation
Tehran, Abidjan Explore Ways for Broadening Economic Cooperation
Head of National Development Fund of Iran (NDF) Mr. Mehdi Ghazanfari met Ambassador of Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Mr. Tamakulu Vatara and during the meeting both sides explored ways for broadening economic ties.

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Head of National Development Fund of Iran (NDF) Mr. Mehdi Ghazanfari met Ambassador of Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Mr. Tamakulu Vatara and during the meeting both sides explored ways for broadening economic ties.

In the meeting, Ghazanfari pointed to Iran’s great experience in the field of forex resources reserves resulted from the sales of oil, gas and oil condensate, and noted that National Development Fund of Iran is Iran’s second Central Bank which has forex resources for investment.

He then touched upon investment of national wealth funds of the world inside and outside the countries and said that Iran’s NDF is ready for investment abroad and in case it finds low risks and profitable investment projects, it is ready to enter African countries and this will be done with more ease if it is pursued via unions in those countries.

Ghazanfari then expressed hope that the outcome of this meeting would lead to broaden economic relation between Iran and Cote d’Ivoire.

Then Ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire Mr. Vatara, for his part, said that for more than 40 years a good relation has been shaped between Tehran and Abidjan, adding that unfortunately economic relation of the two countries has not reached favorable level.

He then pointed to the first meeting of the joint economic cooperation of both countries in 2007 and said that the second meeting will be held in less than two months in Abidjan. He expressed hope  this meeting which will be held in October would strengthen economic ties of both countries and he can proudly express that in this joint commission, Abidjan will host a delegation from Iran’s National Development Fund regarding investment in national development fund of Cote d’Ivoire.

The diplomat also pointed to provision of 40% union capital comprised of 8 African countries and stipulated that investment in Cote d’Ivoire means easy access to all member states of the union which have the same forex.

He also pointed to economic cooperation of 15 Iranian companies in Abidjan and said that due to production of 40% of the world cocoa in this country, there are currently high potentials in the fields of agriculture especially processing and cocoa production industry. He further said that investment in the road infrastructures, railway and airports can be other good grounds for joint economic cooperation.

Vatara also suggested investment in the field of energy and oil industries and added that in this regard, some talks have been held with an Iranian company and this company has showed its interest for cooperation.

He said that Cote d’Ivoire has not achieved any progress in extraction of oil and gas and Iran with investment in this field can achieve great successes. He also pointed to Iran’s capabilities in construction, adding that Cote d’Ivoire needs 30,000 units per year in its housing sector and currently some Iranian companies are busy in his country and this number can increase.

At the end of the meeting, Ghazanfari welcomed the idea of NDF’s arrival for investment in the field of energy in Cote d’Ivoire, adding that if Iranian companies express their interest for entering Cote d’Ivoire market, the fund will have forex support for them.