Iran resolve to expand ties with Ghana

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Tuesday underlined Tehran’s firm resolve to boost cooperation with the West African state of Ghana.

“There is a serious will in Iran to expand ties with Ghana. We believe that we have every reason to have good ties with Ghana,” Mottaki said in a meeting with the Ghana’s visiting Deputy Foreign Minister Chris Kpodo here in Tehran today.

Mottaki said supporting the two countries’ private sectors and providing consulate facilities are among the possible ways to bolster the two countries’ trade and industrial ties and increase the two sides’ knowledge of each other.

“Iran’s 100-year-long experience in oil industries is a good ground for the two sides’ cooperation,” he reiterated.

During the meeting, Kpodo briefed Mottaki about the African country’s political and economic status.

He underlined that “bilateral and multilateral cooperation within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a positive approach” for the two sides’ to further expand relations and cooperation.

“We hope that this movement (NAM) will be able to play a more effective role for the economic affairs of the member states,” Kpodo said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration has striven hard to maximize relations with the African continent. Following a three-nation tour of Africa on February 23, 2009 which took him to Djibouti, Kenya and Comoros, Ahmadinejad said that expanding Tehran’s relations with the African countries sets a priority for Iran.