In the meeting between Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Mohammad-Reza Farzin and Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani, necessary agreements were made regarding the start of banking operations in order to use the foreign currency resources transferred to six Iranian banks in Qatar.

Last week, Farzin announced the deposit of €5.573 billion from Iran’s blocked resources to the accounts of six Iranian banks in Al-Ahli and Dukhan banks in Qatar

Speaking in a TV program, the official said that on August 10 of this year, all inaccessible Iranian funds that were kept in South Korean banks and the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat were transferred to the account of the Swiss Central Bank to be converted into euros.

He stated that during this period, Keshavarzi, Saman, Pasargad, Tourism, Shahr, and Karafarin banks opened accounts in the two mentioned Qatari banks, and added: “According to the agreements, all payments were made by brokers of Qatari banks as well as SWIFT.”

“Yesterday we received an official letter from the Qatari authorities that six bank accounts have been activated and today 5.573 million euros were deposited into the bank accounts”, Farzin announced.

In the meeting between the two countries’ central bank governors, which was also attended by the deputy governors and general directors of the two banks, the governors of the central banks of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar pointed to the numerous economic capacities and diverse fields of commercial cooperation between Iran and Qatar, and emphasized the need to increase monetary, banking and financial cooperation between the two countries.

As announced by an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), the value of trade between Iran and Qatar is estimated to reach $3 billion by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (begins on March 2025).

Farzad Piltan, the director-general of TPO’s Office of West Asian Countries, said such amount of trade will includes export, import, joint investment, transit, re-export and joint production.

The governmental officials of the two countries are negotiating and are continuously providing infrastructure to achieve this goal, he added.

In early March, the former head of TPO stressed the expansion of trade ties with Qatar and cooperation with Qatari traders and businessmen in the field of partnership and joint investment and infrastructure development.

Alireza Peyman-Pak made the remarks on the sidelines of the first day of the Iran-Qatar business forum in Tehran.

Referring to the 13th government’s emphasis on developing relations with its neighbors, the official said: “Qatar is one of the countries that, although it has close political relation with Iran, unfortunately in recent years enough attention has not been paid to the use of commercial and economic opportunities of cooperation with this country”.

“During the past few months and in the 13th government, we have paid serious attention to the development of business relations with this country”, he noted, adding, “In this regard, we have sent commercial attaché to Qatar, established a trade center, held a special exhibition, and sent business delegations”.

The post Iran, Qatar discuss strategies to expand financial, banking relations appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Khandouzi made the announcement after meeting with Syrian Communications and Technology Minister Iyad Mohammad al-Khatib and the country’s Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Mohammad Samer al-Khalil in Tehran on Monday.

According to Khandouzi, the insurance company is a consortium of Iranian and Syrian insurance firms and the joint bank is also shared, with Iran owning 60 percent and Syria 40 percent of the shares.

He noted that the mentioned bank and insurance company have been launched mainly with the aim of facilitating the activities of Iranian businessmen and traders in Syria.

“We hope that with more cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of taxation and customs, we will witness a new chapter in economic relations between the two countries,” Khandouzi said.

The Syrian market is a very green market that can provide an excellent opportunity for Iranian companies, manufacturers, investors and businessmen, he added.

According to the minister, the ease of using investment and trade opportunities in the Syrian market following the agreements made, can be attractive to many Iranian companies, since it can increase their export potential and revenues and also deepen their influence in neighboring countries.

“Of course, we are also ready to welcome Syrian investors and businessmen in Iran. It seems that the institutionalization of the financial and insurance sector, as a necessary prelude to advancing business and investment goals, can be considered good news for the economic operators of both sides,” the official said.

Following a visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Syria in May, a delegation of the country’s senior officials traveled to Tehran on Sunday to meet with Iranian counterparts and explore avenues of cooperation and also follow up on the agreements reached during President Raisi’s visit to the country.

The post Iran, Syria launch joint bank, insurance company appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In the meeting, Selahvarzi underlined resolving banking and transportation issues as a prerequisite for boosting the economic exchanges between Iran and Bangladesh, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Referring to the close religious, cultural, and historical relations between Iran and Bangladesh, the ICCIMA head said that despite Bangladesh’s great market and Iran’s strategic position, the two countries have not been able to use each other’s economic capacities well.

He further mentioned some of the potential areas for cooperation between Iran and Bangladesh, saying: “Cooperation in the fields of construction materials, minerals, agricultural products, industrial items, and petrochemical products can lead to the development of trade relations between the two countries.”

Selahvarzi pointed to the need for the formation of a joint committee between the businessmen of the two countries as one of the necessary measures for increasing the trade exchanges between Iran and Bangladesh and added: “Within the next two months, an Iran-Bangladesh Joint Economic Committee will be formed in Iran and we hope that the corresponding institution in Bangladesh will also be established soon.”

Stating that Iran and Bangladesh are members of a number of multilateral economic organizations including the D8, Selahvarzi emphasized the necessity of using this capacity and said: “Iran Chamber of Commerce will make the necessary arrangements with Bangladesh Chamber [of Commerce] for the exchange of business delegations between the two countries.”

Chowdhury, for his part, congratulated Selahvarzi on his election as the new head of the ICCIMA, and reminded of the very close, historical and cultural relations between the two countries and said: “Unfortunately, the level of trade relations between Iran and Bangladesh is not in coordination with the level of political relations.”

He stressed that the governments of the two countries also want to increase trade relations, saying: “In this regard, we should try to facilitate the relations between the businessmen of the two countries as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is no direct transportation between Iran and Bangladesh, and the trade is mostly done through third countries.”

The post Resolving Banking Issues a Prerequisite for Expanding Tehran-Dhaka Ties appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking in the first brainstorming meeting between state and private sector managers as well as representatives of banks, Chairman of Iran-Brazil Joint Chamber of Commerce Mr. Seyed Fakhreddin Amerian said that branches of two Iranian banks will be set up in Brazil, adding that the first trade and economic delegation of the country will be sent to the South American country in the near future to bolster bilateral trade.

Stressing the capacities for promoting exports of Iranian products to Brazil, Amerian said, “With the deployment of marketing structures, suitable ways will be paved for the entry of competent Iranian companies and economic activists to the lucrative Brazilian market.”

He pointed to the dispatch of Iranian trade and economic delegation to Brazil in the second half of the current year and added that economic cooperation with Brazil will be further strengthened after years of hiatus. He said that the delegation will be dispatched to Sao Paulo of Brazil and a big and important negotiation between businessmen of the two countries will happen after years.

In addition, a number of Iranian banks will establish branch offices in Brasilia, which will help traders to set up safe banking relations, Amerian stated.

A specialized and expert-level meeting was held recently between senior directors of public and private sectors, banks, chairmen of specialized commissions of the Iran-Brazil Joint Chamber of Commerce aimed at boosting synergy and spurring exports between Iran and Brazil concurrent with the inauguration of a trade center in this South American country.

Meanwhile in the meeting, Iran’s Ambassador to Brazil Hossein Gharibi said that opening of the trade center of Iran in Brazil is one of the best economic opportunities for the presence of Iranians in Brazil’s market, adding that one of the important tasks of this center is to study Brazil’s market and then paving the ground for the presence of Iranians in the exhibitions in Brazil because exhibition in Brazil is very important and he expects the relation with Brazil to broaden in different fields.

Gharibi also pointed to the historic record in the trade relation between Iran and Brazil which was set last year, noting that the total trade volume of Iran and Brazil was $6.5b in 2021 and some 1.8m tons of urea was exported to Brazil and if the urea market was stable, the condition would have become much better. He noted that the trade volume between Iran and Brazil was around $5b in 2020 and both countries can increase the figure to $10b, reiterating that the figure of trade volume is for the direct trade without involvement of the third party country.

Gharibi also said that diversifying trade with Brazil is one of the main goals, reiterating that Iran wants to have colorful presence in exhibitions in Brazil and it wants to have a pavilion in the upcoming exhibition in north Brazil.

He added that Saudi Arabia is the main oil supplier to Brazil but Iran has better condition in exporting oil products to Brazil and this will be strengthened.

He also blamed lack of direct shipping line to Brazil as one of the major challenges in way of Iran’s exports to Brazil, adding that currently one can use the capacity of Iran’s direct shipping line to Venezuela.

The post 2 Iranian Banks to Set Up Branches in Brazil Soon appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In the meeting, deputy on international affairs of ICCIMA Mr. Alireza Yavari pointed to the many existing capacities in the trade ties between Iran and Spain and said that the fields exempted from sanctions are appropriate fields for increasing the trade volume between the two countries.

He added that there are possibilities to broaden cooperation in the non-sanctioned fields like agriculture, medicines, food stuff and some construction materials like tiles and ceramic as well as broadening tourism which are good items for strengthening bilateral ties.

Then Gil-Casares, for his part, pointed to the start of his mission in Tehran and pointed to the strategy of the commercial sector of the Embassy of Spain in support of active traders and increasing the trade volume, and added that one of the main problems in way of developing bilateral trade ties of both countries is the issue of banking ties and money transactions.

He expressed his optimism over the fate of the JCPOA revival talks and emphasized necessity for keeping the contacts in the current condition and termed positive and useful holding of webinars and online meetings for keeping these contacts.

Gil-Casares expressed the interests of Spanish companies for cooperation with their Iranian counterparts in Iran in the fields like renewable energies, rail transport and food stuff and stated that investment of Iranian companies in production of pistachio and saffron in Spain can have good profits for both parties.

He then called for dispatch of trade delegations from Iran Chamber of Commerce to visit exhibitions in Spain and meeting with their Spanish counterparts.

The post Broadening Iran-Spain Ties Needs Resolving Banking Problem appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) hosted an Iran-Armenia business forum on Sunday during which the attendees underlined the significant position of Armenia as Iran’s only land gateway for entering Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) markets.

Iran’s commercial attaché in Yerevan Akbar Godari, Head of Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry Yarijanian, and Head of Aras Free Zone Organization Majid Kiani were the key speakers at the mentioned business forum.

Speaking in the forum, Mr. Yaijanian said that 15 countries are neighboring Iran and the trade exchanges between them is around $1300b while Iran’s share of this figure is just 1.4% which is expected the figure to increase.

He pointed to the old and friendly ties of Iran and Armenia and said that there has been the least tension between the two countries and they have enjoyed good coexistence.

He added that good relations of governments have provided good ground for broadening economic relation especially in the private sector, adding that Mellat Bank of Iran has opened its branch in Yerevan two weeks ago and this bank is unique in form and performance.

Elsewhere in the event, Yarijanian pointed to the positive relations between Iran and Armenia and stated: “In the last 30 years, the diplomatic relations between the two countries and given that Armenia shares Iran’s only land border with the Eurasian Economic Union, the development of relations with this country provides enormous economic potential.”

Meanwhile Iran’s commercial attache in Yerevan Mr. Godari, for his part, stressed Armenia’s unique geopolitical situation among Iran’s neighboring countries and said: “Armenia is the only EAEU member with which Iran shares land border, and considering the fact that the country’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey are currently closed, Armenian market has a lot of potential for Iranian businessmen.”

Over the past year since the 13th government has taken office, nine rounds of negotiations have been held between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, and issues related to the implementation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides have been resolved, Godari said.

“The negotiations are in the legislative stage and will be finalized within the next few months,” he announced.

Stating that in the last two years, numerous Iranian company representatives and business delegations have visited Armenia, Godari said: “The market of this country has a big difference with some neighboring countries; in Armenia, products are imported from many countries all around the world, so, Iranian products have to compete with world-class products.”

The post Iranian Bank Opens Branch in Yerevan appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to ILNA, Saeed Mohammad said that Iran’s Central Bank has announced its agreement with the launch of the first offshore bank of the country on the Kish Island, and the council is to announce the names of the required shareholders.

He added that with correspondence with the Central Bank, the Council has formed a consortium of shareholders for the offshore bank of Kish but due to some reasons as well as sanctions, the members of the consortium will not be revealed.

Mohammad added that in two week, the Council will officially submit its proposal to the Central Bank, adding that the early capital for the launch of the first offshore bank of the country is $50m but since big shareholders have joined the consortium, they have asked to increase the early capital to $200m.

He added that the Council has identified good and efficient ways for transfer of the forex and SWIFT capabilities and banking operational for this offshore bank, adding that with the launch of this offshore bank in Kish free zone, the banking transactions will be possible.

According to reports, first the Central Bank had asked for $150m for the early capital base for the launch of the bank but after talks the figure reduced to $50m.

The post Offshore Bank to Be Launched With $50m Capital appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The decisions for the establishment of the mentioned entities have been made during a three-day visit of the Iranian minister to Syria, the Transport Ministry’s news portal reported.

Qasemi, who headed a high-ranking delegation in the visit to Syria, met with senior officials from the Arab country including President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, and Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil.

Referring to his meeting with Assad in Damascus on Wednesday, Qasemi said, “During the meeting with the Syrian president, the economic issues of this country, as well as the current obstacles and problems in the economic relations between Iran and Syria were discussed. A joint committee is set to be formed between Iran and Syria [to resolve such problems].”

He stated that good decisions have been made in the meetings with Syrian officials, adding: “It was decided to form a joint committee between us and Syria to follow up on the reached agreements; We have many agreements with Syria, but some of them have not been implemented, so it was decided to review these issues in a joint committee and then implement them.”

Ghasemi also pointed to his meeting with Mekdad on diplomatic issues between the two countries, saying, “We reached good agreements; A joint bank is scheduled to be established in Syria; In this regard, Iranian and Syrian banks should have branches in both countries.”

The Minister of Transport and Urban Development also referred to the meeting with his Syrian counterpart and said: “Transportation in various sectors is one of the important requirements for our country’s economic development; In this regard, it was decided that the head of the country’s Civil Aviation Organization would pursue executive issues in this area with the Syrian side.”

Decisions were made on various issues during the visit with Samer al-Khalil, especially the establishment of a joint free zone between the two countries, he added.

The post Iran, Syria to establish joint free zone, bank appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Head of Trade Promotion Organization Alireza Paymanpak highlighted the achievements of recent visit of Iran’s Minster of Trade to Damascus and said the launch of the joint bank was one of the issues which was discussed during the visit and it was decided the hurdles to be removed for the launch of the joint bank.

He added that 50 million dollars have been allocated to Iranian companies that seek to export their products to Syria.

The organization’s director said Iran has forged good political and military ties with Syria but trade relations have been lagging behind, stressing that Tehran is now after getting the private sector enter Syria.

“[Despite war] the Syrian private sector is rich financially and there are good opportunities for investment in the country. We seek the greater portion of the investment by our private sector to take place in Syria’s free trade zones,” Peymnapak told Tonight’s Headlines program on the national broadcaster.

“For expansion of our country’s private sector trade with the regional and neighboring countries, establishment of chambers for trade of goods, not only in Damascus, but with all neighboring countries are on our agenda, but Syria has no good to be traded with ours.”

He stressed that Syria exports only 800 million dollars of products a year and due to the current situation in the country it only produces cotton. He said Iran needs cotton, but that requires a safe transport route with Syria, which is now lacking.

Peymanpak added that the Iranian shipping lines can consider subsidies for transport to and from Syria to enable regular maritime transport with the country. This, he said, will remove part of the problem and enable Iranian investors to enter cotton trade with the country.

Heads of several parliamentary commissions, which were also present at the program, called for facilitation of the Iranian private sector’s presence in Syria.

The post Iran, Syria Seek to Launch Joint Bank appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the Islamic Banking Conference on Wednesday, the officials stressed the need to stop following the wrong policies of the past and to use treasury bonds to compensate for the budget deficit.

Speaking in this meeting, former CBI Governor Mohammad-Hossein Adeli said the first and foremost issue that the government should consider is to have its own income.

“The government is able to make internal and external arrangements to increase its income,” Adeli stressed.

The official noted that reforming the budget structure requires decreasing the government costs and this is the only way forward.

“Instead of putting pressure on the government and the banking system, treasury bonds can be used to compensate for the budget deficit. These bonds are underdeveloped and the methods used for preparing them are not appropriate. Now it is up to the financial policymaker to build the right market for such treasury bonds,” he added.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Tahmasb Mazaheri said: “I advise the government not to follow in the footsteps of the previous government to improve the situation. What we saw in President Raisi’s government plans in the economic sector is that a large part of them are the repetition of the policies and views of previous governments.”

Mahmoud Bahmani for his part stressed the need for battling corruption, saying: “It is very difficult to fight corruption because there is a lot of resistance against it.”

“We advise the government to pursue privatization through the stock exchange and do not stop the privatization in case some problems occur in the process. The government does not have all the specialties of the private sector. The private sector can easily bypass the sanctions,” he said.

Further in the meeting, Valiollah Seif referred to the independence of the central bank and said: “I have not seen any country where the governor of the central bank is a member of the government; in my opinion, the governor of the central bank should not be from the government at all.”

Iran’s 31st Islamic Banking Conference kicked off at the place of the Central Bank of Iran in capital Tehran on Tuesday.

The post Former CBI governors stress bank’s authority in economic decisions appeared first on Iran News Daily.