Iran, Oman mull trade in local currencies
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran and Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Development emphasized the importance of strengthening monetary ties between the countries by using their national currencies in commercial transactions rather than the US dollar.
CBI Chief Mohammad Reza Farzin highlighted the historical context of economic ties between the two countries, stating, “We welcome any measure that leads to the expansion of monetary and banking cooperation between Iran and Oman,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Farzin emphasized the importance of bolstering monetary and banking connections alongside other bilateral relations. He suggested specialized sessions between banking and economic bodies as a means to increase financial transactions, acknowledging new prospects in recent Iran-Oman relations.
Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Development Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, for his part, emphasized strengthening monetary and banking relations to ease trade, pointing to Oman and Iran’s economic potentials.
Al Yousef highlighted the significance of using national currencies in economic collaborations, noting a 41-percent trade volume growth in the current year’s first eight months.
He stressed the importance of infrastructure development and Omani investment participation in Iranian projects, particularly in the energy and gas sectors.
He also expressed Oman’s readiness to boost economic cooperation through various methods, emphasizing the necessity of financial transfers to achieve mutual investments and collaborations.
In November, top Iranian and Omani trade officials held a meeting in Muscat to discuss the implementation process of mutual agreements previously signed between the two countries.
The meeting was held between Iran’s Secretary of Supreme Council of Free Industrial-Trade and Special Economic Zones Hojatollah Abdolmaleki and Oman’s Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy.
In the meeting, the two officials exchanged viewpoints about how to implement the trade agreements.
In January, 2022, Abdolmaleki had stressed the necessity of accelerating the process of signing a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in free trade zones.
According to Abdolmaleki, Iran-Oman cooperation in the free zones would pave the way for further imports and exports and an increase in employment and investment.