Iran, New Zealand agree on agricultural cooperation

The Islamic Republic of Iran and New Zealand have reached an agreement to work jointly in different areas of agriculture.

The agreement was struck between Iranian Minister of Agriculture Mahmoud Hojjati and the visiting foreign affairs minister of New Zealand, Murray McCully, in Tehran on Saturday.

At the signing ceremony, Hojjati said New Zealand has great capacities in agriculture and can have enhanced cooperation with Iran in that regard, according to the official IRNA news agency.

He said the two countries also can cooperate in areas of fisheries, animal husbandry as well as relevant technologies.

McCully, for his part, said the cooperation document will top the agenda of bilateral exchange so that the two nations could also increase trade in other areas of economy.

Given the two sides’ considerable agricultural potentials, McCully noted, Iran and New Zealand could boost their economic transactions.

He also said since the two countries are in different hemispheres, they can target different markets by exporting a variety of agricultural products.

The New Zealand foreign minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday on a two-day official visit to hold talks with senior Iranian officials and sign agreements for enhanced economic cooperation.

McCully earlier met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif at Iran’s Foreign Ministry and afterwards held negotiations with Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.

He told Shamkhani that his country seeks more ties with Iran in trade and politics and the expansion of cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Back in March, the Iranian foreign minister paid a visit to New Zealand where he expressed Iran’s interest in long-term economic relations with the country, noting, "We continue to buy butter and milk products from you, but we are interested in going beyond that and engaging in long-term economic relations with New Zealand."

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