Iraqi Ambassador to Iran Sa’d Javad Qandil has lately said that
his country and Iran are considering mechanisms to use local currencies in
their bilateral trade to reduce reliance on the currency of United States. The
two neighbors are holding talks to find the best way to facilitate their
financial transactions, the ambassador noted.
The Iraqi diplomat once again reiterated his government's
clear stance against the unilateral sanctions imposed by United States on Iran,
saying that such restrictions are against the international rules and
regulations. Noting that the bilateral trades between Iran and Iraq have not
been affected by the sanctions, Qandil expressed his country's readiness to
increase the level of cooperation with Iran in various economic spheres.
Iraq is currently Iran’s biggest trade partner and the two
countries have been taking significant steps to improve their mutual trade over
the past few years. In early February this year, central banks of Iran and Iraq
reached an agreement to set up a payment mechanism to facilitate banking ties
and boost trade between the two countries.
In the meeting, Governor of central bank of Iran,
Abdolnasser Hemmati, who visited Iraq to discuss expansion of banking
relations, expressed hope that the trade volume between the two neighboring
countries would increase even more.
In early May, officials from the two countries held a
meeting in Tehran to discuss establishing an Iran-Iraq trade committee.
According to Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), the
two sides discussed several issues including joint investment and establishment
of industrial zones, facilitating the transit of goods, facilitating business
travels, organizing pilgrimage and health tourism, as well as solving the existing
problems regarding mutual trade.
Iran’s exports to Iraq have increased by 37% in the last
Iranian calendar year and the two neighbors have it on agenda to boost their
mutual trade to $20 billion by 2021.
