ARUSHA - The Islamic Republic of Iran has appointed its Ambassador to Tanzania, Mohsen Movahedi Ghomi, as its representative to the East African Community (EAC).

Ghomi presented his letter of credence to EAC Secretary General, Dr. Richard Sezibera, during a ceremony held at the EAC headquarters in Arusha.

During the event, the Iranian envoy expressed delight at the accreditation commenting that that Iran has very good relations with the five EAC member states.

He pointed out that Iran and the EAC states needed to exploit their existing friendship for mutual economic gain.

"In spite of the good relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the five EAC partner countries, I believe a lot of the potential is not yet explored,” Ghomi remarked, noting that untapped opportunities abound in trade and investment.

"We have to utilise these opportunities, and the EAC is the best platform to do this. What is important is for both sides to activate this potential”.

The Iranian envoy proposed a joint EAC-Iran conference on trade and investment, which his host, Dr. Sezibera, welcomed.

"We are open to investment and there are opportunities, which we can explore together,” said the EAC Secretary General.Sezibera urged Iran to invest in EAC infrastructure, especially in roads, railways, ports and energy.

"The biggest challenge to our integration process is the lack of infrastructure to support the process,” Dr. Sezibera observed,

"EAC looks forward to working with Iran "to advance our cooperation agenda”.

Brazil, USA, Denmark, Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Netherlands, Japan, Belgium, France, Canada, India, Finland, Sudan, United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia and China are among the other countries that have appointed representatives to the EAC.

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