Ivory Coast's Transportation Minister Gaoussou Toure said his country's public transport sector has demanded replacing its present fleet with the cars made by the Middle-East's largest auto-manufacturer, the Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO).
Speaking during a visit to IKCO plants, Gaoussou Toure said IKCO products were a perfect match for Ivory Coast transport fleet renewal.
Referring to IKCO as a modern industrial unit, Toure asserted, "We already have 50,000 over-used vehicles which we hope can be replaced by IKCO vehicles, especially Samand as taxis."
According to him, Ivory Coast could be considered as a gate for automakers to enter the car market in West Africa.
The Ivory Coast's Minister of transport also asked for purchasing buses to renew this country's bus fleet, and added, "After-sales service and easy access to spare parts are important issues if a carmaker, especially an Iranian carmaker is supposed to enter this market."
During this visit, IKCO Export Area Director for America and Africa Mohammad Hossein Yazdi  expressed his company's willingness to export vehicles to Ivory Coast, and added, "Africa's car market is very important to us and IKCO is quite committed to provide this market with suitable after-sales service, while IKCO has already sold cars in the Middle Eastern, CIS and South American countries."
Yazi mentioned that IKCO vehicles met Euro IV standard and were supposed to be upgraded to meet Euro V soon.
He also referred to IKCO's readiness to cooperate in supplying Ivory Coast's market demands for cars, and said, "We have discussed this issue with some companies and in case of reaching the required conclusion, IKCO authorities will schedule some visits to Ivory Coast as well."