Nicaragua vows to broaden barter trade with Iran defying sanctions
Nicaragua is ready to broaden barter trade with Iran, ignoring unilateral US sanctions which have complicated banking affairs and financial transactions, visiting Nicaraguan Treasury and Public Credit Minister Iván Adolfo Acosta Montalván said on Tuesday.
“There are opportunities to produce red meat in Nicaragua. Iranian companies can even invest in this sector, produce meat based on halal principles and export it to other countries as well,” he added, according to IRNA.
The minister made the remarks in a meeting with the authorities of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) in Tehran.
Earlier, ICCIMA President Gholam-hossein Shafei proposed that Tehran and Managua engage in barter trade through the export of red meat from Nicaragua in exchange for Iranian chemical fertilizer for agricultural purposes.
Barter trade is the key to success of the Iranian private sector under US sanctions, Shafei said.
Iran can also help the Central American nation to build infrastructure as “Iranian companies have good experience in implementing construction projects outside Iran,” he added.
Shafei recommended that Nicaragua ease the issuance of visas for Iranian businessmen and traders to further facilitate trade between the two countries.
With a close political stance toward US hegemony in the world, Iran and Nicaragua already cooperate in various sectors.
Heading a political and business delegation on an official visit to Iran, the Nicaraguan minister said he would make every effort to restore trade relations between the two countries. “We have signed a comprehensive agreement with the Iranian government in order to start a new era of economic relations,” he added.
The minister highlighted that Iranian businesses can gain access to the potentially 1.5-billion-strong market of 45 countries through trade with Nicaragua.