Syria, Iran to establish joint bank in

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) –  Head of the Syrian-Iranian joint Chamber of Commerce, Fahd Mahmoud Darwish, said yesterday that promises were made regarding the establishment of a Syrian-Iranian joint bank soon.

The pro-government al-Watan newspaper cited Darwish as saying, “The announcement of its establishment should be ready at the beginning of next year.”  

In late August, the deputy head of the Iranian-Syrian Chamber of Commerce, Ali Asghar Zbardast, said that Iranian-Syrian commercial ties are too weak, but there are capabilities to strengthen them.

“The economic benefits of Syria go to Russia and other countries, while our commercial and economic relations with Syria are slow,” he added in an interview with the Iranian ILNA news agency.

Recently, Alireza Peyman-Pak, head of the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), has announced that Syria and Iran are about to establish a joint bank.

 In late November, Seyyed Reza Fatemi Amin, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade visited Syria and announced that Iranian-Syrian economic relations are too weak and need to be improved.

Fahd Darwish affirmed that Iran signed four agreements with Syria during the visit of Seyyed Reza Fatemi Amin, adding that Syria and Iran are on the way to develop trade between the two countries. 

“We called on the Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade and his Iranian counterpart to build up a joint bank and allow trade exchange with Syrian and Iranian currencies,” Darwish said.

“The establishment of the joint bank will permit traders, industrials and industry events to transfer money and sign deals,” Darwish added.

In 2019, governor of Iranian Central Bank and his Syrian counterpart discussed setting up a joint bank to facilitate businessmen’s activities.

The two agreed to establish a joint bank committee tasked to follow up on the implementation of the understanding memorandum signed between the two countries.

The joint bank committee comprised representatives from both countries under the auspices of the Central bank of Syria and Iran.