Broadening cooperation and interaction with other countries in the cooperatives sector is one of the main objectives of Chamber of Cooperatives, Abdollahi maintained.
He put the total trade volume exchanged between Iran and Kenya in the past Iranian calendar year in 1395 (ended March 20, 2017) at $50 million and said, “agricultural, industrial tourism and services sectors constitute the most important activities of the cooperatives sector, so that joint cooperation can be expanded between the two countries in the field of export of relevant products.”
Since Kenya stands at the first rank among African countries in the cooperatives sector, Iranian cooperative societies are interested in organizing cooperatives in Kenya, he opined.
Turning to the problems of banking exchanges between Iran and Kenya, he said, “effective steps have been taken in this regard to set up a joint account in a third-party country in order to ease financial transactions between the two countries.”
“We propose to hold a joint seminar between Iran and Kenya in order to introduce opportunities of cooperatives sector available in these two countries,” he concluded.
For her part, Kenyan Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran put the number of cooperative societies in Kenya at about 15,000 and said, “currently, Kenya stands at the first rank among African states in terms of cooperatives and also 7th rank in the world.”
Cooperative societies in Kenya are busy active in different sectors but the main activity of cooperatives in this African country is in the field of agriculture, she said, adding, “in addition to the support of Kenyan Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade from the cooperatives sectors, other responsible organizations monitor activities and performances of cooperatives sectors of this country as well.”
MA/4206932