Iranian envoy says Ethiopia “base” for investment across Horn of Africa

By pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information Centre (WIC)

ADDIS ABABA, 06 Feb, 2004 — Iranian investors are considering to make Ethiopia as a base for their engagement in investment in the Horn of Africa.

In an exclusive interview with WIC, Iranian Ambassador to Ethiopia Morteza Damanpak Jami said that currently Afro-Iranian development cooperation is gaining momentum.

Africa is placed at the top of Iran’s foreign policy and is considered as a reliable trade partner, the ambassador said.

He said Ethiopia, being the Headquarters of African Union (AU), is the top most priority for Iranian investors not only to undertake investment in Ethiopia, but also to expand economic ties across the region.

According to the ambassador, the volume of investment and trade between Ethiopia and Iran is currently growing with the level of trade exchange reaching 10m dollars per year. Currently about six big companies are engaged in various development programmes in Ethiopia, Ambassador Jami noted.

He said Ethiopia is also one of the major recipients of Official Development Assistance (ODA), which focuses on supporting various development programmes.

According to the ambassador, Iran has over 1,000 experienced and big companies to feed African development needs and the country is currently looking forward to engage actively in various fields in which Ethiopia is to be the prior beneficiary.

The official visits of the foreign ministers of the two countries and the joint Ethiopia-Iran Economic Commission has further cemented the economic ties of the two countries.

The ambassador said the embassy is exerting utmost effort to persuade Iranian officials to make the second Afro-Iranian forum meeting which brings participants from more than twenty African countries together in Addis Ababa next year.