Venezuela and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed new agreements on Saturday in key areas such as energy, transportation, tourism and agriculture, in what corresponds to a cooperation map for the next 20 years.
“We have reached this year 2022 in better conditions, more prepared and stronger to articulate the forces of Iran and Venezuela in a truly amazing map of cooperation,” said the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, in a joint statement from Tehran as his Iranian counterpart, Seyed Ebrahim Raisi.
In energy matters, the new agreements cover oil, gas, petrochemicals and refineries.
“We have great cooperation fronts between Iran and Venezuela. At the energy level of oil, gas, refineries, petrochemicals, at the financial level with the Iran-Venezuela national development bank,” Maduro stressed.
Regarding tourism, the president stressed, the Caracas-Tehran direct flight will open on July 18, which “will promote tourism and unity between our peoples.”
“Venezuela, President Raisi, is open to receiving tourism from Iran so that they come to enjoy the beauties of the Caribbean, South America, the Andes, the Amazon,” invited the Venezuelan head of state.
In agriculture, the agreements provide for technological development to produce more food based on the experience and progress made by Iran in this area, a country made up of almost 70% desert territory.
He said that for this reason the Minister for Agriculture, Wilmar Castro Soteldo, is in the official delegation to prioritize two key aspects: technological cooperation “to produce more food in Venezuela” and joint projects “Iran-Venezuela to export to Iran and this whole region of Asia.
He argued that the country has approximately 33 million hectares suitable for producing “food for Venezuela and for export.”
“There are many things that remain to be done in the future to consolidate comprehensive economic recovery, to expand the productive forces of our country, learning from the historical experience of our sister Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.
The Venezuelan head of state thanked his counterpart for his receptiveness. “I believe that an indestructible friendship between our peoples will grow between the two of us,” he added.
strong will
The Iranian president stated that they believe that there is “all the possibility of exchanging experiences through scientific and technological centers” in the areas of oil, gas, petrochemicals, agriculture.
“The signing of the 20-year cooperation document between Caracas and Tehran is an example of the firm will of the authorities of both countries to extend cooperation in all directions,” he stressed.
Iran is the third stop on the Eurasian tour carried out by President Nicolás Maduro. He was previously in Turkey and Algeria, where it also signed cooperation agreements in several areas.
Venezuela has signed more than 250 cooperation documents with Iran throughout its diplomatic relations.
In recent years, they have built a solid bilateral cooperation agenda for the benefit of both peoples, despite the sanctions and coercive measures imposed by the White House.
