TEHRAN – Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi has said that lack of mutual knowledge about the trade capacities of Iran and Guinea is a major obstacle in the way of expanding economic exchanges between the two countries.

Making the remarks in a meeting with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ambassador to Guinea on Monday, Selahvarzi noted that the Iranian embassy in this country can play an important role in removing the mentioned obstacle, the ICCIMA portal reported.

According to the ICCIMA, the trade between the two countries is currently less than $200,000, which is very low considering the capacities of the two countries.

“Developing foreign trade, especially with Africa, and finding joint production and investment opportunities in Guinea and other African countries are among the priorities of the ICCIMA,” Selahvarzi said in the meeting.

The ICCIMA head further expressed hope that the Iranian Embassy in Guinea will reduce the risk of economic uncertainty in Guinea by supporting the country's economic operators.

Emphasizing that Iranian investors should use the advantage of medicine import exemption in Guinea, he said that due to the shortage of medicine in Guinea and Iran's advantage in this sector, the field of medicine can be one of the best fields to operate in the Guinean market.

He further stated that the ICCIMA is ready for any cooperation to expand the activities of the country’s private sector in Guinea, adding: “Extraterritorial cultivation in Guinea and the possibility of barter trade with the country should also be investigated as ways to increase the level of trade balance between the two sides.”

Elsewhere in the meeting, Jamshid Parvizi, Iran's new ambassador to Guinea, emphasized that Guinea's economic conditions are more favorable for the entry of Iranian small and medium-sized enterprises, saying that short-term investments will be profitable, especially in the agricultural sector; Because in Guinea, only 20 percent of agricultural land has been cultivated, while this country does not have the problem of water scarcity and drought.

EF/MA