The President stated that the first step for the success and realisation of the goals of the Iran-Africa Economic Conference is the existence of the will between the parties, and described the spirit of holding this summit as a symbol and manifestation of the existence of this will between the parties.
Speaking on Friday morning at the Second International Economic Conference of Iran and Africa, while expressing his satisfaction with the holding of this summit between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the rich continent of Africa and also thanking the Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade for the report on the measures taken to hold this conference and the exhibition related to it, Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi emphasised the importance of detailed planning with specific timing to achieve the goals of the conference.
The President stated that the first step for the success and realisation of the goals of the Iran-Africa Economic Conference is the existence of the will between the parties, and described the spirit of holding this summit as a symbol and manifestation of the existence of this will between the parties.
Dr Raisi also stated that despite the sanctions and pressures, the Islamic Republic of Iran has made a lot of progress and today Iran can be called an advanced and technological country, adding that it is very important to gain recognition of Iran's progress and access to new technologies.
Pointing out that the strengthening of cooperation with the countries of the African continent has been emphasised by Imam Khomeini since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution has always emphasised this issue, he stated, “There is a significant difference in the view of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Western countries about the African continent, we are looking for cooperation with African countries for these countries and their development, but as evidenced by history, Western countries are only seeking to plunder the resources and wealth of African countries”.
Dr Raisi stated that in our opinion, if the necessary platforms are provided, the people of African countries, like Western countries, have many talents and fields to progress and achieve high scientific and technological positions, and clarified, “Although Western countries advertise that only they themselves have the ability to acquire new technologies, but we believe that the talents and capabilities of African countries in this field are in no way inferior to Western countries”.
Referring to the necessity of knowing the capacities and talents in African countries, the existence of extensive mines and resources in these countries and the technology and knowledge necessary to exploit and process these mines in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President described them as mutual and complementary capacities and added, “Extraterritorial and supply of primary resources for production and industrial centres at a reasonable price are other areas of cooperation with Africa”.
Dr Raisi stated that the technical-engineering services in the Islamic Republic of Iran have made great progress thanks to the Islamic Revolution, and referred to the inauguration of the dam built in Sri Lanka by Iranian experts in the past days, which was built with the highest level of modern technologies and stated, “Today, Iranian specialists have the ability to build advanced refineries and power plants, and this is an important capacity for expanding areas of cooperation between Iran and African countries”.
The President described the next step in the development of relations between the two sides to recognise the obstacles ahead and try to solve them, and pointed out, “The preparation of necessary infrastructure for the development of relations, including the development and strengthening of shipping lines, airlines and solving the problems of financial and monetary transfers are among the necessary fields for the development of relations and cooperation between the two sides”.
Dr Raisi continued, “Naturally, each African country has its own conditions, and therefore, in order to develop relations with these countries, it is necessary to prepare and implement a program suitable to the situation of each country”.
While thanking the report presented on the plan of the Ministry of Industry to remove the existing obstacles in the path of developing relations until next year's summit, the President said, “One year is a very long time to solve these problems and you should try to remove the existing obstacles within 3 months”.