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Iran reaches out to Brazil, Venezuela

DUBAI: Iran is aggressively courting Brazil and Turkey to build substantial ties with some of the world’s most promising emerging economies.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to embark on a visit to Brazil on Wednesday.

A large 110 member delegation including 65 top company representatives are accompanying the President. Iran’s Ambassador to Brazil Mohsen Shaterzadeh has been quoted as saying the business delegation includes entrepreneurs in the oil, gas, petrochemical, platform construction, mining and auto assembly sectors. Business meetings with the Brazilians are expected in Sao Paulo.

The delegation is then slated to travel to Venezuela. On April 30, Iran and Venezuela signed a defence cooperation agreement during the visit to Caracas by Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit comes in the wake of remarks on Friday by U.S. secretary of State Hilary Clinton that Iran and China have made “quite disturbing” gains in Latin America. The Iranians have also reached out in a big way to Turkey, another rapidly growing economic and political player.

Both countries have set an annual trade target of $20 billion to be achieved in a five-year timeframe. An April-end visit to Ankara by Iran’s Commerce Minister Massoud Mirkazemi saw the two countries reinforcing their interest in two giant Euro-Asia strategic projects.

Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzman said during Mr. Mirkazemi’s visit that Tehran and Ankara were working energetically to complete the Lake Van Northern Passage Project, which would ensure the uninterrupted flow of trade on railroads from Europe to China.

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