TEHRAN – Nicaragua seeks to attract Iranian investment in its energy and industry projects, Laureano Ortega, the Nicaraguan presidential advisor for foreign investment, said on Tuesday.

He made the remarks in a conference on reviewing economic opportunities in Nicaragua, saying that his country warmly welcomes Iranian companies in various sectors namely construction, renewable energy, industry and agriculture, IRNA reported on Wednesday.   

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who also attended the conference, for his part, announced that the Islamic Republic’s administration will guarantee the investments made by the Iranian private sector in the Latin American countries, including Nicaragua. 

Zarif began his first Latin American visit on Monday in Havana, where he met with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in an effort to improve bilateral economic relations.

He continued his tour with arriving in Nicaragua on Tuesday. Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela will be his next destinations.

On his Latin American tour, the Iranian foreign minister is being accompanied by 120 businessmen seeking investment and cooperation opportunities to boost several Iranian industries, especially the oil industry.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the tour of Latin America signifies Tehran’s plans to boost non-oil exports.

Iran interested in proposed Chinese-built canal in Nicaragua

Iranian firms want to participate in the construction of a massive canal across Nicaragua that a Chinese company has vowed to build, Zarif said Wednesday, Al-Monitor reported.

Representatives of private Iranian construction companies accompanying Zarif on the visit to Nicaragua’s capital discussed the possibility of getting a slice of the $50 billion project, the minister told a news conference.

The ambitious plan calls for a waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that would rival the century-old one in Panama, which has recently been expanded to take bigger ships.

Yet work on Nicaragua’s canal, meant to have started two years ago, has not begun. HKND, the Chinese group tasked with the huge job, now says it should start at the end of this year.

HJ/MA