South Korea is in the final stages of preparation to trade with Iran in the euro, which it aims to do “as soon as possible,” its finance minister said on Wednesday.
“It’s probably going to happen by the yearend,” Yoo Il-ho told reporters, referring to efforts to finalize talks with Iranian counterparts, banks and possibly the United States as sanctions against the Middle East country are slowly being lifted, Reuters reported.
Yoo said he expects Korean companies to carry out business with Iran in euros within this year.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been trying to revive trade with Iran after a historic lifting of sanctions.
As a major buyer of Iranian oil, South Korea is bolstering efforts to facilitate trade between the two nations currently settled in the won.
The euro-based payment system is expected to pave the way for Korean businesses to speed up $45.6 billion worth of bilateral projects that were sealed in May during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Iran.
Iran, which is a major trade partner for Europe, has long preferred payments in euro. However, this has been impossible for Korean firms when promoting trade with their Iranian counterparts as they must first be converted into dollars which could go against US sanction rules. Korean firms have long been campaigning for euro-based payment system to expand their trade with Iran.
