Iran is set to open a trade centre in Uganda as part of the country’s strategy to expand its presence on the African continent.
Mr Farzad Piltan, the director general of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organisation (TPO) Office of Arabian and African Countries, made the announcement on Tuesday, 21 September 2021.
“Based on the policies of the organisation in facilitating the presence of Iranian companies, goods and services in target markets and based on the instructions for issuing licenses for establishing trade centres abroad, TPO has licensed the private sector to open trade centres in Uganda and the United Arab Emirates,” Mr Piltan is quoted by Tehran Times as saying.
“According to the existing instructions, the trustees of these centres will have one year to provide the necessary facilities and infrastructure for establishing the centres and obtain the necessary licenses from this organization,” he added.
Mr Piltan also explained that the centres will act as one-stop consultative services for Iranian companies dealing in marketing, legal services, insurance, registration, advertising and warehousing, among others.
Iran has been pursuing a new strategy of expanding trade activities in new destination markets such as Africa.
A number of bilateral measures have been undertaken by Iran and Uganda.
In February, the Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Uganda for a two-day official visit and met with President Yoweri Museveni on issues relating to foreign policy, extremism in the region and ways through which Iran can work with Uganda to harness power generation, education, trade and agriculture.
Mr. Zarif traveled with a delegation of 40 people, including politicians and business moguls, who he said would be meeting with key Ugandan actors in various sector to explore ways of doing business in the Pearl of Africa as Uganda is commonly known.