Rouhani Calls for Enhancement of Iran-Fiji Ties
(FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with Fiji's new Accredited Ambassador to Tehran Ravindran Robin Nair underlined the need for the further expansion of mutual cooperation between the two countries, specially in areas of trade and commerce.
“The grounds for bilateral ties, particularly in trade and commerce, can grow,” President Rouhani said during the meeting in Tehran on Monday.
He said mutual cooperation between Iran, as the head of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and Fiji, as the head of Group 77, has created proper grounds for the further expansion of their cooperation.
The Fijian ambassador, for his part, pointed to Fiji’s satisfactory cooperation with Iran, and said, “I hope our relations will be enhanced in technical and engineering areas.”
The envoy praised the two states' cooperation as the heads of the afore-mentioned international groupings, and hoped for the bolstering of their cooperation in technical and engineering grounds.
He thanked Iran for its assistance to Fiji, and said, “Iran-Fiji cooperation in bilateral areas can be broadened.”
In September, President Rouhani and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama stressed the need for more joint efforts by the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77 (G77) to overcome the crises in the region.
Since Iran holds the rotating presidency of NAM and Fiji holds the chairmanship of the G77, expansion of mutual cooperation between Tehran and Suva can help bolster cooperation among the member states of NAM and G77, the two senior officials underlined in a meeting on the sidelines of the 68th Annual Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
During the meeting, President Rouhani stressed the importance of ties with Fiji as the head of the 132-member G77, and expressed Tehran’s readiness to expand mutual ties with Suva.
He further lauded great potentials existing in the two countries to develop ties especially in tourism.
The Fijian prime minister outlined his country’s humanitarian efforts to establish peace and stability in the region and hoped they would be fruitful through the cooperation of such countries as Iran which currently holds the NAM presidency.
The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.
NAM is an international organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. NAM is the largest grouping of countries outside of the United Nations.
Iran received NAM rotating presidency at the opening ceremony of the NAM summit in Tehran on August 26, 2012 from Egypt for a period of three years.