Thursday, June 24, 2010

Iran Tractor Gift for President Mugabe of Zimbabwe

Tractor gift for President

Herald Reporter

Teheran’s Ambassador in Harare, Mr Mohammed Pournajaf, yesterday handed over a gift of four tractors from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Mugabe.

President Mugabe will give three of the tractors — which were handed over at a ceremony at Zimbabwe House — to farmers of his choice.

President Mugabe thanked President Ahmajinejad for the gift and assured Ambassador Pournajaf that the tractors would be put to good use.

"Soon we will start preparing for our agriculture season and they will do some good work. We are very, very happy with the gift," he said.

Ambassador Pournajaf said the donation was a sign of the strong ties between the two countries.

"This is a gift of President Ahmajinejad to His Excellency President Mugabe as a good sign of co-operation," he said.

The tractors were assembled at Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries in Harare under a Zimbabwe-Iran joint assembly project.

President Ahmajinejad officially opened the plant in April this year when he visited the country to open the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

Ambassador Pournajaf said 12 employees from the Industrial Development Corporation would soon travel to Iran to familiarise themselves with the technicalities of assembling tractors.

He said Iran would invest in agriculture, banking and insurance and an Iranian tycoon was expected in Zimbabwe during the Harare Agricultural Show to explore business opportunities.

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