A delegation from Kenya, specialized in tea industry, met with Gilan Governor General here Friday and considered ways of expanding cooperation in the fields of tea research, process and marketing.
In the meeting, the governor general said, "Gilan province has a fertile land to grow tea plant and by considering the government support for this product we intend to promote quality and quantity of the tea here."
Rouhollah Qahremani Chabok added, "Currently, there are 32,000 hectares of tea farms in the province, in which 40,000 tons of dry tea is produced, while country's consumption is more than 120,000 tons annually."
Although 8,000 tons of domestic tea product has the quality to be exported, but we intend to make the whole tea product of the country suitable for export, the senior provincial official said.
He continued, "Kenya is one of the largest tea exporters in the world, so we wish to use their experiences in this concern." Establishment of friendly ties with African countries is one of the priorities of Iran's foreign policy, Qahremani told visiting Kenyan delegation.
Kenyan deputy ambassador in Tehran, for his part, called the aim of the visit "expansion of bilateral ties with Iran, especially in the fields of trade and commerce."
Timothy Karagou said, "Iran is the sole importer of the pure tea in the world and Kenya is the sole exporter of that type of tea." Executive, commercial and development director of the Kenya Tea Organization said in the meeting "Kenya has 150,000 hectares of tea farms and produce 315,000 tons of tea leaf yearly."
VexaXisa added, "95 percent of tea product is exported abroad." Representative of Kenya Standard Institute is among the delegation, too.
The Kenya delegation is to visit tea farms, tea research stations as well as several tea processing factories in the province during its 2-day visit.
© IRNA 2008
