TEHRAN- Senior officials from Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Korea Development Bank (KDB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to increase common banking ties in Tehran, on Monday.

According to IRNA, the signing ceremony was attended by Gholamali Kamyab, the vice governor of the CBI, and Lee Dong-Geon, an official affiliated to the KDB.

Emphasizing the importance of making brokerage relation between Iranian banks and their South Korean counterparts, the CBI official admitted that both countries are inclined to boost mutual trade.

Dong-Geon, for his part, called the inked MOU a significant step on the way to enhance bilateral relation and said that KDB is poised to assist Iran with industrial development via making investments.

 First S. Korean bank launches office in Tehran

South Korea’s Woori Bank opened its first representative office during a meeting also attended by Kamyab in Tehran, IRNA reported on Monday.

Woori is now the first South Korean commercial bank to start banking activities in the Islamic Republic. The Korean bank had asked CBI for the possibility of opening its branch in Tehran after the implementation of the nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 Group in January.

“Both sides should take advantage of Iran’s post-sanction era to tighten mutual ties,” Kamyab said in his speech.

Iran and South Korea signed 19 cooperation documents here on Monday, pledging to increase their annual trade by three times the current volume of around $6 billion to $18 billion.

The documents were inked in the presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-Hye.

“We should increase bilateral trade, which has dropped in recent years, to $18 billion in the first phase, and then to $30 billion in the mid-term,” Rouhani said in a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart Park.

“Toward supporting relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, South Korea will provide $25 billion in finance for infrastructure projects in Iran. This is the largest financial package South Korea has ever presented to another country,” Park highlighted.

Park made a historic visit to Iran on May 1-3. It was the first visit by a Korean leader to Iran since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1962. She was accompanied by several ministers and a 230-strong business delegation.

HJ/MA