TEHRAN – The Commercial Attaché of the Kenyan Embassy to Tehran has said his country welcomes Iranian companies’ investment in various sectors.

Making the remarks in a conference on the development of Iran-East Africa trade on Thursday, David Karanja said a workshop has been formed to explore the mutual economic potentials of the two sides and the two countries will establish interaction in oil, pharmaceutical, and medical fields.

He said Kenya is keen on attracting investment opportunities in Iran and vice versa.

“Iran and East Africa are both producers and consumers, and East Africa has good opportunities in labor, raw materials, and produced items,” Karanja added.

According to the official, Iran has established an innovation and technology center in Kenya, which is one of Iran's first initiatives in Africa.

“This center will be a platform for Kenyan start-ups and Iranian companies,” he stressed.

As reported, Iran-East Africa Trade Development Conference was organized by the International Institute of Iran Industries Research (MPSIran).

According to MPSIran Head Sina Sanjari, the purpose of the mentioned conference was to examine the challenges and opportunities for investment and export to the East African region.

"In recent years, the value of Iran's exports to Africa has been between 700 to 800 million dollars annually, which shows the high potential for increasing trade between Iran and East African countries,” Sanjari said at the conference.

According to the official, East African countries are good markets for the presence of Iranian technical and engineering service companies, exporters, and investors in this regard.

Further in the conference, Former Iranian Ambassador to Kenya Hossein Givzadeh mentioned the geopolitical significance of East African countries for Iran and said: "East African countries are Iran's primary point of contact with Africa and our trade relations with them are at the highest level.”

“Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, and Uganda are among Iran's main trade partners in Africa," Givzadeh said.

EF/MA