Iran funds by $3.5mn joint tractor factory in Zimbabwe
Sunday, 26 February 2012 21:37
Feb 26 – The Iranian ambassador to Zimbabwe has announced that Iran has sent
$3.5 million to the Southern African country.
Ambassador Mohammad Pournajaf said on Saturday that the funds will help pay
for the completion of the Zimbabwe-Iran tractor assembly plant, a project
which was inaugurated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in 2010.
The Motira Tractor Plant is located in Harare’s Willowvale industrial area.
Under a program established by the two countries, farmers will pay an
initial deposit of 30 percent of the price of a tractor and pay the rest in
24 months.
Pournajaf also said that 12 Zimbabwean technicians have been sent to the
Islamic Republic for training in the assembly and maintenance of tractors.
In April 2010 and during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit to Zimbabwe,
Iranian and Zimbabwean Presidents opened the Iran tractor assembly line.
Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka and Sudan as well as
Iran’s neighboring countries, and African and Central Asian states as among
his company’s main customers.