Iranian delegation visited Uruguay to strengthen strategic business links

Accompanied by a delegation of more than 40 businessmen and authorities, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohamad Yavad Zafir, arrived in Uruguay to hold a meeting with the Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, and also participated in a business meeting organized by Uruguay XXI and the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The event, which took place at the Radisson Hotel, and which also included the participation of the executive director of Uruguay XXI, Antonio Carámbula, the ambassador of Iran in Uruguay Abolfazl Pasandideh and the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Iran, Gholam Hossein Shafei , presented investment and commercial opportunities for both countries.

The instance also enabled a space for exchange in which businessmen could hold business meetings.

According to data from 2016, Uruguay was that year the fourth rice supplier in Iran, supplying 2.3% of the total purchased; It was also the largest supplier of fine wool with more than 43% of the total, the eighth largest source of butter and the fortieth in terms of medicines.

Prior to a personal meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Nin Novoa received the delegation and explained that in 2017, Uruguay presented exports to Iran a little less than USD 10 million, while imports reached USD 6.5 million. "This allows us to reaffirm that the commercial opportunities to increase the placement of goods are concrete and plausible," said the minister.

Nin Novoa urged Uruguayan companies to promote a closer relationship with Iran, a market that reaches some 82 million people and achieves economic growth rates of over 4% per year.

Meanwhile, the Iranian minister highlighted Uruguay's infrastructure, security, its important geographical location, the possibilities offered by its ports and the wide investment opportunities for foreign companies.

He added that Uruguay has always been a very important client for oil and that the exchange potential can cover much more than rice, an icon of the country in Iran. "It is our duty to diversify this work and learn more about the possibilities and merchants to take advantage of each one's potential, which includes oil, gas, infrastructure and civil construction, medicine, pharmacy and new sciences, as well as agricultural and dairy production, among others. The Iranian companies are willing to work with Uruguay and have mutual investments, "he said.

In this context, the executive director of Uruguay XXI, Antonio Carámbula, highlighted the qualities of Uruguay's business climate. "It is a pride to be able to present you a country that is located in the first places in all the rankings that have to do with business, with political and economic stability. In fact, the sustained growth of Uruguay in recent years is due to this stability, as well as to the legal security and the commercial opening of the country, "he said.

Among the data presented in 2017, an economy growth of 2.7% was shown and the complex regional context in which this occurred was highlighted. "Uruguay is the country that has grown the most and this has been done in an inclusive manner (...) The reason is partly thanks to trade and also to the arrival of foreign direct investment, with levels similar to those of the OECD, next to 20 % (...) with an important reinvestment of profits of the companies that reveals the confidence of the investors in the country ", he emphasized.