TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary General of Iran-South Korea Joint Chamber of Commerce Pouya Firouzi says early talks with South Korea have started for imports of cars from this country, admitting that South Koreans are not interested in barter trade with Iran.
Speaking to ILNA, Frirouzi said that to form a barter trade, it needs an intermediary that this mechanism is not available for now which does not exists, adding that Iran’s private sector several times has tried to activate barter trade with South Korea but South Koreans do not like to ignore the sanctions laws.
He noted that in the first five months of the current year Iran’s imports from South Korea have risen and in return its exports have declined. He added that Iran’s exports to South Korea in five months have been $32.5m while at the same time it has imported $277m of goods from South Korea.
On imports of cars from South Korea, he said that if the condition for financial transactions is facilitated, there will be no problem because the industry ministry has signaled green light. He added that the price of the cars that the ministry has in sight depends on the agreement between the dealing companies.
Firouzi reiterated that South Korea once was Iran’s fifth trade partner but after the sanctions, the trade between them has declined and now South Korea ranks 38th among Iran’s trade partners and it is because of sanctions because South Koreans do not risk sanctions punishment.
He once again reiterated that South Koreans prefer direct trade rather than barter, noting that South Korean national currency could not replace dollar in trade with Iran.
