TEHRAN - The head of Iran's Association of Private Banks and Credit Institutions announced their readiness for financial support of exporters of technical and engineering services to Iraq, IRIB reported on Sunday.

“Some projects by Iranian exporters of technical and engineering services to Iraq require financing, which we are prepared to provide them as consortiums, that is a combination of our own resources and those of our associated banks,” Koroush Parvizian said in a conference on financing exports to Iraq on Saturday.

According to the official, to support exports to the Iraqi market, five branches of an Iranian private bank have obtained operating licenses from the Iraqi Central Bank, and two branches are already set up, each with $50 million of capital.

He added that in order to support exporters of goods and technical services to Iraq, we needed three major infrastructures to be provided.

“The first was insurance coverage by the Export Guarantee Fund and other commercial insurances to support the transportation of goods to the Iraqi market, this which has been designed and implemented,” Parvizian explained.

“The second infrastructure was signing a contract with the National Development Fund for providing foreign currency and rial deposits, however, the U.S. sanctions have slowed down the progress of this program.”

The official finally noted that the third infrastructure has been providing knowledge-based companies with facilities to support their exports to Iraq.

Iran and Iraq have been taking significant steps for boosting economic relations in the past few years.

The two countries are following up plans for increasing their bilateral economic trade to over $20 billion.

As previously reported by Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO), following an agreement on establishment of an Iran-Iraq trade committee, officials from the two sides held a meeting to discuss the issue in Tehran on May 5.

In early March, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani headed a high-ranking political and trade delegation in a visit to Iraq, during which the two sides inked several agreements and emphasized expansion of trade ties.

Less than a month after President Rouhani’s visit to Iraq, an Iraqi delegation visited Tehran to attend an Iran-Iraq business forum which was hosted by Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) on April 7.

EF/MA