Ahmadinejad made the remarks before heading to Gambia on the first leg of his several-nation tour which will take him to two African and three Latin American states, including Gambia, Senegal, Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia.

"The destination countries are important states and every one of them plays a decisive role in its region. The Islamic Republic of Iran's relations with these countries are close, stable and expanding in various fields," he added.

Noting that the volume of Iran's economic, cultural and trade cooperation with the destination countries are "rather high," Ahmadinejad also expressed the hope that a wide leap would be taken in the consolidation and reinvigoration of bilateral relations with the said countries.

The Iranian president pointed out that today the world is witnessing great changes and it needs new solutions, and said he would discuss international situation with his counterparts during the trip.

The countries "that we are going to visit, specially Venezuela and Brazil, can contribute a decisive role in planning and regulating the new systems," he underlined.

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