EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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18Sep06
Iran, Venezuela sign 29 MoUs for cooperation
Iran and Venezuela here Sunday signed 29 memoranda of understanding for expansion of bilateral cooperation in various fields on the first day of an official visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to this Latin American state.
The MoUs were inked by representatives of the Iranian government including Minister of Industries and Mines Alireza Tahmasbi and Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad, and Venezuela's ministers of basic industries and mining, minister of light industry, and commerce as well as officials of economic companies and institutions.
Cooperation in various activities in the field of oil and gas, including exploration and construction of oil rigs and tankers, construction of ships and airplanes, expansion of their aviation industries, establishment of an engineering company for downstream industries,
cooperation in maritime trade and setting up of a joint oil trading company were the subjects covered by documents signed by the two countries' officials.
The sides also inked MoUs covering agreements for exchange of university students, cooperation in the field of news and information dissemination, expansion of their tourism industries, including promotion of their cultural heritages, cooperation in the manufacture of medical equipment, bicycles and cement and in agricultural goods and steel production.
Iran's minister of industries and mines said Iran and Venezuela have always enjoyed a high level of political relations and with efforts taken by the current government their economic and trade cooperation has risen to the level of political ties.
"Today, a year after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government came into office, on account of efforts taken by his government to bolster economic and trade ties we can say that bilateral economic cooperation is at the same level with political ties," Tahmasbi said.
The Venezuelan minister of basic industries and mining praised the rising trend of bilateral economic cooperation and said conclusion of the MoUs were a step in this direction, urging the two sides to implement the current agreements.
Iran and Venezuela signed six documents for cooperation, including agreements to expand current bilateral cooperation, in the presence of Ahmadinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, on Sunday.
Construction of cement and steel factories, establishment of a joint oil and gas exploration company, cooperation in petrochemical and industrial activities, inauguration of a Tehran-Caracas direct air route were among main subjects of the documents signed by the two sides.
President Ahmadinejad, heading a delegation, arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday on the last leg of a tri-nation tour which began Thursday last week.
He arrived in the West African state of Senegal on Wednesday for a nine-hour vist and flew to the South American state of Cuba Thursday morning.
He concludes his two-day Venezuela visit today and will head for New York to attend the 61st annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, which begins Tuesday.
[Source: Islamic Republic News Agency, Caracas, 18Sep06]
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