TEHRAN- Iranian Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia and Industry Minister Mohammadreza Nematzadeh in separate meetings with Austria’s Federal Minister of Finance Hans Jörg Schelling on Saturday and Sunday sought avenues for increasing economic and banking ties between the two countries.

During his meeting with Tayyebnia at the place of Iran’s Ministry of Finance on Saturday evening, Schelling announced that Austria’s Oberbank will grant €1 billion for financing investment projects in Iran, IRNA reported.

The two sides underscored the vitality of improving banking ties and in particular brokerage relations. 

The two ministers also accorded on signing a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) in future as well as developing customs cooperation under EU regulations.

After the held meeting, as Tasnim news agency reported, the Governor of Central Bank of Austria (Oesterreichische Nationalbank) Ewald Nowotny told reporters in a news conference that after the visit paid by the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) to Austria, last year, the two countries have been enjoying warm mutual banking ties. 

He added that an account was opened in Oesterreichische Nationalbank for Iran’s CBI last year and as agreed during the Saturday meeting between the two ministers an Austrian bank will resume operation in Iran in near future. 

Iran-Austria trade currently stands at $400 million and the figure is planned to reach $5 billion in future, Mehr news agency quoted Tayyebnia as saying.

“There is a long way to hit the set target, but regarding the available capacities, I believe that the trade volume will reach $5 billion within three next years,” he added.

In a Sunday meeting between Schelling and Nematzadeh at the place of Iran’s Ministry of Industry, both ministers underlined the importance of enhancing mutual economic ties, Shata news agency reported.

Expressing content about the growth of economic partnership between the two sides as of implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal in January 2016, Nematzadeh said that despite existing impediments on the way of boosting ties, we hope that we can improve our common ties in various fields such as scientific, technical, trade, and investment.

The Austrian minister, for his turn, referred to the mutual cooperation background between Iran and Austria and voiced tendency for resuming all-out ties. He also highlighted the significance of forming a joint economic committee between the two sides.  

HJ/MA