Tehran, March 07: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and visiting Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga have pledged to deepen trade relations between the two countries.
Ahmadinejad, in a meeting with Odinga in Tehran on Sunday, called for more economic and banking ties between Tehran and Nairobi, noting that there is much room for expanding bilateral relations.
Odinga, for his part, said that his country is keen to strengthen ties with the Islamic Republic, noting that the two states have reached a common ground to this end.
On Saturday, Odinga and the governor of the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Jafar Hejazi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand bilateral trade relations.
The MoU included an agreement to expand trade relations and cooperation between Imam Khomeini Port in Khuzestan province and Kenya’s Port of Mombasa, and to strengthen tourism, cultural and educational cooperation.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who was present at the meeting, said that the ground for expansion of relations between the two countries has been prepared and the Islamic Republic is determined to expand economic cooperation with Kenya.
Rahimi underlined that Iran and Kenya can cooperate in agriculture, mining and banking sectors.
Iran and Kenya have also begun the joint construction of the Middle East’s largest grain terminal in Imam Khomeini Port.
The Kenyan premier, who heads a political-economic delegation comprised of Minister Amos Kimunya, deputy speaker of the National Assembly Farah Maalim and a number of Kenyan businessmen, arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit at the invitation of the Iranian government.
Iran is among the leading importers of Kenyan tea, while the Islamic Republic exports industrial oils, carpets and chemicals to Kenya.
——–Agencies