TEHRAN - Iranian Labor and Social Welfare Minister Solat Mortazavi has said that considering the new agreements between Iran and Zimbabwe, the two countries’ annual trade is expected to exceed $500 million, IRNA reported.

“In the agreements [reached between the two sides], the level of trade between the two countries is seen to increase to more than 500 million dollars per year, which is achievable,” Mortazavi said on Sunday in a meeting of the ministers of the two countries.

According to the official, good plans have been made for cooperation in various fields including medicine, export of agricultural machinery, and petrochemicals.

The ninth Meeting of the Joint Economic Committee of Iran and Zimbabwe kicked off in the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday.

Officials of the two countries hailed the meeting for “paving the way for economic cooperation and promoting trade exchanges between the two sides.”

Iranian authorities have again said that promoting cooperation with African countries is on top agenda of the foreign policy of the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi.  

EF/MA