Iran's nuclear deal with world powers has provided a big boost to its international trade and economy as a whole, says a deputy economy minister.
"There has been good progress in international business and post-sanctions economy," said Hossein Qazavi in a talk with Exim News website adding, however, that the full benefits of the agreement have yet to emerge.
"The cost of money transactions between Iran and other countries has significantly lowered, and of course, needs to come down further."
Shut out of international financial markets for years, Iran is still trying to reap the benefits of last year's nuclear deal with the world powers.
Despite the removal of international banking restrictions in January, Tehran has secured ties with only a limited number of smaller banks as residual US sanctions remain in force.
According to Qazavi, the nuclear deal has had widespread effects on Iran's economy as a whole, including in the area of international trade, banking and exports of oil and non-oil products. But what is clear and tangible, says the official, is that "today, our merchants or anyone else, who wishes to transfer money to or from a foreign country, will at least find a way to do so."
The deputy economy minister for banking and insurance affairs admitted that current solutions are not totally satisfactory and therefore a number of Iranian traders turn to sanctions-era solutions to conduct their business and banking operations, "but what is definite is that this is the beginning of the path toward [further] improvement in this sector."
Good progress has been made in oil exports, said the official. "We can now have the same amount of oil exports that we experienced before the sanctions and easily collect revenues generated from oil sales."
Iran exported 2.57 million barrels of oil per day in Oct., the highest since Aug. 2008, data provided by Reuters showed on Friday. It boosted exports by 420,000 barrels per day last month compared to September as the OPEC No. 3 producer continues its march to win back the market share it lost under international sanctions.
Growing Bonds
Advances have also been made in non-oil and petrochemical exports and what is being witnessed today is that exporters find themselves able to receive their money more easily through the banks, he added.
Qazavi referred the recent upgrades in the level of international negotiations to expand business and economic ties with other countries as another positive step taken in the post-sanctions era. In particular, he pointed to recent talks held with top-tier officials in Bank of China, a large international player.
"In the meeting that we recently had with one of China's biggest banks, we made it a point to introduce Iranian investment opportunities to them and to provide the Chinese delegation with a comprehensive report in order for them to get more acquainted with Iran's current economic situation."
Central Bank of Iran governor Valiollah Seif met with Bank of China CEO Chen Siqing last week in talks centered on amplifying collaboration between the two countries. Siqing stressed that expanding ties will be in the interest of both sides, saying the bank he heads is looking to open a representative office in Iran.
"In the next step, we can start thinking about opening branches," he added.
Boasting the title of the oldest bank in mainland China, the BOC was founded in 1912. Furthermore, its 18 trillion yuan worth of assets places it among the top 10 banks in the world, as well as making it the most important international bank of the country.
"Bank of China is a big and highly active bank on the international scene which has ties with 47 countries in electronic banking," said Qazavi. "These ties have been established by way of opening representative offices and bank branches in various countries."
Further detailing the meeting with BOC officials, he said "providing finance to Iranian projects and opening credit lines to bankroll investment projects in Iran were among matters that were discussed in the meeting which we hope will bring about effective results for the country's economy and banking system."
