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QUITO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa on Wednesday met with Iran's visiting Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as the two countries look to bolster bilateral trade.
Correa and Zarif, who is on a six-nation tour of Latin America, held a private meeting at government headquarters in Quito, accompanied by Ecuadoran Foreign Affairs Minister Guillaume Long.
Zarif's visit offered a "new opportunity to spur ties with Iran," said Correa, who celebrated the recent lifting of sanctions on Iran as part of an international nuclear agreement.
"Before, due to the unjust sanctions, we wanted to sell more bananas (to Iran), but that was (seen as) financing terrorism," said Correa, adding meat was another product his country aimed to export to the Middle East nation.
Earlier, Long and Zarif "expressed their respective governments' willingness to give bilateral trade ties a strong push," the state-run Andes news agency said.
The two men inaugurated an Ecuador-Iran Economic and Trade Forum attended by more than 100 representatives from the two countries' private and public sectors.
Zarif's visit presented an excellent opportunity to deepen bilateral ties in the areas of trade, finance, investment and cooperation, Ecuador's government said.
Long invited Iran's business delegation to invest in Ecuador, calling on them to "make a superhuman effort to overcome the distances, costs, obstacles; let's be creative, let's find a way to exchange, trade, invest, to exponentially grow bilateral ties in the coming years."
Long said the two countries' respective agricultural protection agencies would be signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) later in the day, as part of the push to expand trade ties.
Iran and Ecuador's respective central banks were also set to sign an MOU to facilitate payments, "reduce tariffs and adopt logistical mechanisms to improve connectivity and allow the increase of exchange volume," Andes said.
A bilateral trade committee will hold its first meeting in the last quarter of the year, said Long, adding Ecuador is about to open a trade office in Iran's capital Tehran.
Ecuador exports a range of products to Iran, including bananas, wood, roses and fruit puree, but hopes to expand the list to include coffee, cocoa, tuna and other goods.
Zarif arrived here on Tuesday following visits to Cuba and Nicaragua. He will also visit Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela.
