Iran Press/Iran news: Speaking in his weekly presser, the economic spokesperson of the government added: You are aware that since 2018 and after the resumption of US sanctions against Iran, using other currencies was on the agenda of the government so that we can reduce our reliance on the dollar. Unfortunately, the processes were moving slowly, but with the seriousness that the president and the government had to speed up the reduction of the dollar in the country's trade, very good measures have been taken and the share of the dollar in Iran's trade has decreased greatly.
Khandouzi said: Iran is mulling the use of alternative and local currencies of trading partner countries. Another point was the connection of the country's banking network to the electronic payment network of the countries in the region, and this has happened in the case of Russia, and in the coming months, we will see that Iranian businessmen can meet their needs during their travels to Russia without using dollar-based banking systems.
Regarding the link of Iran's banking network to the banking network of other countries, including Turkey, Oman, and Iraq, the spokesman said that the CBI was also following up.
Another measure taken is the revival of mechanisms based on barter transactions between two or three countries, which reduces the need for dollars or euros, the spokesman highlighted.
The Central Bank has also started good cooperation with the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) and the meeting of the union is scheduled to be held in Tehran in May with the presence of nine countries.
ACU is a payment arrangement between the central banks of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
"Bilateral or multilateral monetary agreements are being pursued by CBI, especially with countries that are our main trading partners. All of these measures have caused the share of the dollar in Iran's foreign trade to decrease by nearly a third in the last two years and reach less than ten percent, which is also not acceptable and the government is trying to seriously reduce its share," the minister underscored.
Obstacles of Iranian companies in Syria will be removed
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance and economic spokesman of the government, said: Apart from the political and security issues that were raised between the President of Iran and his Syrian counterpart during Raisi's recent visit to Damascus, economic cooperation and the removal of obstacles for Iranian companies to do business in Syria were discussed.
Speaking in his weekly news conference the government spokesman said: Removing these obstacles will help Iranian producers, exporters, and investors to play a role in the Syrian economy.
Referring to trade volume between Iran and Syria, he added: You know that the current situation is very unfavorable, the total trade volume between the two countries does not even reach half a billion dollars, while there are high capacities.
According to him not utilizing some of these capacities is the danger that exists in post-war Syria for Iranian activists, exporters, and investors.
Khandouzi said: As a result, one of the most important agreements that have been reached is to reduce these risks, which we do through a joint insurance company.
He said: As soon as the trip of the Iranian delegation headed by Raisi to Syria ended, I asked the head of the Central Insurance to carry out his correspondence with the Syrian side.
Khandouzi termed the transfer of funds and currency between the two countries as another obstacle to the development of trade between Tehran and Damascus and said: We agreed to solve the challenge through establishing a joint bank and the two sides should implement the agreement as soon as possible.
Regarding the customs, good agreements were made to connect the customs of Iran and Syria online not let delay the clearance of goods, the spokesman highlighted.
About the standard of export goods, he also said: It was agreed that the two countries accept their quality standards.
"Industrial towns and the use of Iran's technical and engineering capabilities in Syria's power plants and... were also discussed," Ehsan Khandouzi added.
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