Story by Abigirl Tembo

STRENGTHENING trade relations between Zimbabwe and Iran dominated discussions when Vice President General Retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga met with Iran First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber in Tehran this Sunday.

The meeting saw the two Vice Presidents discussing ways to strengthen cooperation between Zimbabwe and Iran in various sectors including agriculture, pharmaceuticals and trade.

“We had a long and fruitful meeting with the first Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Mokhber, whom I met last year when I came here. As you are aware we have a Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation where 12 MoUs were signed. These are some of the major issues which we reflected on to see how they can be implemented, some have already started to bear fruits like the pharmaceutical side. Some issues which are in the pipeline like mechanisation of our agriculture, the maximum usage of water. We discussed establishing a permanent secretariat for full implementation of the MoUs,” said VP Chiwenga.

One of the key areas of discussion was the visa-free regime which was implemented in February this year to facilitate business exchanges between Zimbabwe and Iran.

“We discussed the issue of the visa-free regime which you heard Ambassador Bright Kupemba talking about, it came into effect in February. So, there is now a rapport in terms of business to business, there is no problem of travel between our two countries. More importantly we discussed about the Iran-Africa International Economic Conference which is combined with the 6th export potential exhibition. Iran is not looking at Africa as a cost but as an investment,” he added.

Vice President Chiwenga, who is leading a Zimbabwean business delegation to the Iran-Africa Economic Conference, has met with several Iranian leaders, including President Ebrahim Raisi.

The meetings seek to lay the groundwork for deeper collaboration in various economic sectors for mutual benefit.