Kampala – President Ebrahim Raisi has pledged to share Iran’s knowledge and experience in science and technology development with Uganda during his visit to the East African nation. President Raisi’s two-day state visit to Uganda commenced with a warm reception from his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, at the State House in Entebbe, located 40 km south of Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
In a joint meeting attended by high-ranking delegations from both Iran and Uganda, President Museveni expressed his interest in benefiting from Iran’s expertise in the oil sector. Uganda is currently in the process of establishing an oil refinery and other related facilities, and President Museveni acknowledged that Iran possesses valuable knowledge in this domain. He referred to recent news reports highlighting Iran’s establishment of a petrochemical center and recognized the potential for collaboration between the two nations.
“We recognize that Iran has valuable expertise which we currently lack. I recently saw news about Iran’s progress in setting up a petrochemical center. This creates opportunities for collaboration, given our plans to develop a petrochemical industry as well,” President Museveni stated.
President Raisi echoed the sentiment of strengthening relations with African countries, particularly Uganda, emphasizing the importance of expanding political, cultural, scientific, and technological cooperation. He expressed Iran’s readiness to share its knowledge and experience in science and technology development with Uganda. President Raisi further criticized Western countries for their dominant approach, which restricts countries with natural resources from adding value to their own assets.
“The Western countries follow a system of dominance where they generally discourage countries with natural resources from adding value to those resources. They are primarily interested in acquiring raw materials and selling finished products back to these countries,” President Raisi remarked. He affirmed Iran’s commitment to sharing expertise and technology in manufacturing medical equipment and pharmaceuticals with Uganda, and even proposed the establishment of a technology center in the country.
Uganda marks the second leg of President Raisi’s African tour, following his visit to Kenya. This visit holds significant importance as it marks the first trip by an Iranian president to Africa in the past 11 years. Iran aims to improve political and trade cooperation with African nations and diversify its export destinations.
