TEHRAN - The Islamic Republic of Iran and Burkina Faso have signed eight memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for cooperation in various fields including energy, town planning, higher education, and construction, IRNA reported.

The MOUs were signed during the two countries’ first joint economic committee meeting which was held in Ouagadougou on Friday.

Work and social support, technical and vocational training, employment and entrepreneurship development, pharmaceuticals, energy and mining, environment and natural resources, as well as science, research, and technology were also among the areas covered in the MOUs.

The first meeting of the Iran-Burkina Faso Joint Economic Committee was attended by an Iranian delegation headed by Iranian Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Solat Mortazavi.

Speaking at the event, Mortazavi expressed hope that the signed documents would lead to an increase in the level of economic exchange between the two countries.

The official noted that the two sides plan to expand their cooperation in other areas as well.

During a meeting between Mehdi Zeyghami, the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), and Issa Boro, the secretary general of the foreign ministry of Burkina Faso, in Tehran in late June, the Iranian side his country is willing to expand trade ties with Burkina Faso and export technical engineering services to the country.

In this meeting, the two sides emphasized the expansion of commercial relations in parallel with political ties and discussed the business plans that are to be presented in the upcoming Joint Economic Committee meeting of the two countries.

According to Zeyghami, the expansion of business relations is not possible without the businessmen of the two countries getting to know each other, and it is necessary to hold conferences on the business opportunities of Burkina Faso and Iran for the businessmen of the two countries to get familiar with the two countries’ markets.

Boro had earlier announced that the West African country is going to open an embassy in Tehran.

EF/MA