Oberbank, one of Austria’s biggest banks, has allocated a €1 billion ($910 million) line of credit to finance investment projects in Iran, Austria’s finance minister announced in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Sunday.

“Negotiations between the two countries’ central banks have also been finalized while there are a number of Austrian banks interested in establishing correspondent relations with Iranian banks,” Hans Jorg Schelling was also quoted as saying by Shada, the official news service of Iran’s Economy Ministry.

Jorg is leading a high-ranking Austrian delegation consisting of government officials and major Austrian banks and companies’ representatives who have traveled to Iran to promote bilateral trade, expand economic relations and resolve banking issues.

Iran’s Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia pointed to his last year’s meeting with Jorg in Vienna and called for speeding up the process of boosting economic relations.

During the meeting, the two ministers agreed on implementing changes in their trade laws to avoid paying extra taxes and expand customs collaborations in line with the European Union regulations.

The Austrian minister made some proposals regarding the issue to Tayyebnia.

Jorg added that reaching agreements for extending legal guarantees to develop economic relations and attract investment of Austrian companies in Iran has been one of the goals of this trip.

He noted that mutual relations have significantly progressed since their last meeting and Austria will do all in its power in the European Union and international organizations to strengthen Iran’s position and develop its international ties.

“The government’s guarantees for companies that intend to invest in Iran have quadrupled during the past year and I certainly believe trade volume will bounce back to what it was before Iran’s sanctions,” he said.

Source: financial tribune