Zarif: Iran can be reliable trade partner for Germany
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the time is ripe for Tehran and Berlin to boost economic cooperation, adding Iran can be a good trade partner for Germany.
“Iran can be a trustworthy partner in joint production of goods and exporting them to regional countries, especially Central Asia,” Zarif said in a meeting with German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries in Berlin on Tuesday.
He said that Iranian businessmen and Germany’s commercial society mutually trust each other.
“The time is now ripe for Iran and Germany to broaden economic cooperation and naturally banking cooperation paves the way for increasing economic and trade relations between the two countries,” Zarif said.
The German economy minister, for her part, pointed to the age-old relations between the two countries, and said, “Iran-germany relations are at a satisfactory level and a large number of Germans visit Iran every year.”
She said that Germany’s export insurance, known as Hermes, is interested in guaranteeing investment projects in Iran, especially in the sectors such as energy and electricity.
Wider banking ties
Also, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble announced his country’s readiness to expand banking cooperation with Iran and provide funds for the country’s economic projects in another meeting with the Iranian foreign minister.
Schäuble said Berlin was committed to the implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran that was sealed in 2015 and came into effect in early 2016, Press TV reported.
He also told Zarif that German banks were trying to find ways for closer cooperation with their Iranian counterparts.
Zarif arrived in Berlin on Monday for talks with German officials on issues of mutual concern. Germany is Iran’s largest trade partner in Europe. Official figures released last year showed that trade between the two countries stands at around €3 billion, but officials on both sides have already voiced optimism that this could increase in the near future.
Companies are still complaining that banking problems, mainly remaining from US primary sanctions, are still obstructing business with Iran.
Last October, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi announced that the country was looking into the possibility of using the facilities of German financial institutions to press ahead with its purchases of planes from global aviation giants like Boeing and Airbus.
This was expected to break the ice for those banks that have been reluctant to approach Iran investment projects over fears that they would fall afoul of US sanctions.
Iran later finalized the agreements with Boeing and Airbus and several planes were delivered to the country with many more in the offing.
Whether or not German banks facilitated the plane purchase deals was not confirmed, but considering Akhoundi’s remarks, chances are high that this might have been the case.