Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, leading a politico-economic delegation, will kick off his one-week Latin American tour on Sunday.
A 65-strong economic delegation comprised of businessmen and senior private-sector executives of a selected number of nationwide industries will represent Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture in Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s six-leg visit to Latin America.
The delegation will begin its trip in Cuba on 21 August and then will proceed to Nicaragua, Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia. The visit will end in Venezuela.
Iran Chamber of Commerce's economic delegation is set to confer with economic activists and to hold B2B meetings in each of the Latin American countries. Iran’s economic delegation is set to confer with Latin American economic activists, to participate in general economic meetings and to hold B2B business meetings in each of the Latin American countries.
This will be the first trip of such a large politico-economic delegation to Latin America. “The delegation aims at finding an overall image of the economic atmosphere in the region. We are going to explore different possible joint grounds of cooperation between our businesspeople and Latin Americans,” Farhad Sharif, Iran Chamber of Commerce international deputy said. “Further, we are going to make direct contacts with our ambassadors and diplomatic teams in the six Latin American countries for future connections.”
According to Iran Chamber of Commerce international deputy, the Iranian delegation is scheduled to meet Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega on the second leg of its Latin America tour. The team will be presented with the investment opportunities at the Nicaragua canal which is a super project, Sharif said. The canal is world’s biggest canal project – a $50bn interoceanic canal through Nicaragua which is set to compete with the Panama Canal.
The economic mission will discuss cooperation in areas including technical and engineering services, mining, petrochemicals, oil products, medicine and medical supplies, agriculture and food industries, logistics, ship transport, banking affairs and investment.
The Iranian delegation is heading to Latin America in hope of capitalizing on the economic potential after the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted in Spanish on 17 August that the Iranian delegation will travel to Latin America in order to “strengthen political and economic ties.”
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, the trip will be “the beginning of a new chapter in relations between Iran and Latin America”. He added: “Latin America is very important for Iran, and despite the long distance there is various cooperation in many fields.”
Iran has consistently called for enhanced cooperation with businessmen and industrial activists in Latin American countries, especially as a landmark deal between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have opened doors to the Middle East country’s market with nearly 80 million population.
The deal, also known as JCPOA, lifts all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US, in return for some limitations in its nuclear activities.