Iran needs to develop air, sea transportation to Africa: Official

Iran's air and sea transportation to Africa must be developed in order to promote trade between the Islamic Republic and the continent, an Iranian official said Sunday.

Mehdi Safari, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, made the comments in a meeting of Foreign Economic Relations Coordinating Headquarters entitled “Strategies of Developing Trade Ties with African Continent.”

In the current situation, exporting technical and engineering services, constructing dams and power plants, developing extraterrestrial cultivation and boosting trade and economic relations with African countries are “essential”, Safari highlighted.

He expressed hope that joint economic commission between Iran and African countries would be held in the near future in line with acceleration of trade and economic activities.

Necessity of launching a shipping line and direct airlines between Iran and African countries and removing obstacles ahead of implementation of extraterrestrial cultivation were the other issues that were discussed in the meeting, Safari added.

Trade and economic cooperation between Iran and African nations are far less than the capacities and mutual interests of the two sides.

Experts say the main obstacles for trade between Iran and Africa is the lack of direct sea and air transportation infrastructures, high marketing and transportation costs.

Other reasons are a lack of banking relations, lack of information on mutual demands and capabilities, as well as political and economic instability in some regions of Africa.

Iran accounted for just 0.12% of Africa’s total trade with the world in 2020.

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