Morteza Rahimi, Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria yesterday said that his country was planning to invest in key areas of construction, Pharmaceuticals, power, oil and gas and agriculture sectors in Nigeria.


Ambassador Rahimi disclosed this when he led a delegation on a visit to Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

�The visit is predicated on development and fostering of Business relations between both countries.

�The sectors that we believe that Nigeria and the Islamic Republic of Iran could have similarity and cooperation are pharmaceuticals, road construction, building constructions, oil, gas and energy,� he said.

The envoy said that the Islamic Republic of Iran and Nigeria had enormous resources which include oil and gas stressing that the country would want to invest in the oil and gas byproducts.

He believed that collaborations in the key areas of the economy and opening up investment opportunities in the sector could spur further growth between the two oil producing countries.

�It would be better that both countries produce other commodities through the crude materials, rather than exporting the crude and only getting petroleum product in return, he said.
�Both countries are selling oil and gas in a very cheap price. We have to bring out our countries from this situation.

�We must add value to our oil resources now, and we have found in Nigeria a strategic partner in this venture.

�Instead of us exporting only crude and getting petroleum in return, we could refine locally and also explore investment opportunities in other petroleum byproducts,� he said.

He said that he had recently discussed with Mohammed Barkindo, Nigerian representative in OPEC on this issue, adding that further progress would be made on it.

The president ACCI, Tony Ejinkonye, said that the visit was in preparatory to the visit of the Iranian foreign Minister to Nigeria in July.

Ejinkonye said that the ambassador would also lead a delegation of organized private sector from the country to Nigeria.

�As the voice of the organized private sector in the country, the ambassador is engaging us to look at possible areas of business cooperation, as they come with business delegation�
The foreign minister of Islamic Republic of Iran would be visiting Nigeria next month.

Notably, since the U.S. and other countries lifted up the sanctions on Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and key government officials from the country have been touring key countries, drumming up investment support for the country�s sanctions-battered economy.

By Tehran Times