THE Iranian government said its banks are looking to reestablish relations with their Philippine counterparts, as part of its push to create stronger bilateral trade relations with the country.
Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Tanhaei said there are state-run and private banks that want to explore their options in the country.
“They want to reestablish bank-to-bank relations with countries in the Asean region, including the Philippines. It is part of the move to have increased economic relations with those countries,” Tanhaei said.
Tanhaei said among the banks that could potentially look to partner with local banks are Tehran-headquartered publicly listed Persian Bank and the government-owned Bank Melli Iran, which is now considered as the largest commercial retail bank in their country.
Tanhaei said they are laying the groundwork for their potential entry into the country’s banking sector, but said it is up to the Iranian banks to choose the banks they will deal with in the country.
Current exchange rate has placed 1 Iranian Rial to only P0.0015. However, currency dealers are expecting the value of the rial to rise, as Iran starts producing 5 million barrels of oil daily into the open market, after the lifting of international sanctions against the country.
Tanhaei said in Iran the most accepted international currencies are the euro, Japanese yen, British pound and the United States dollar.
“Our foreign transactions are in euros,” he said, while adding that they also do not have a problem in using the US dollar in principle.
However, Tanhaei cautioned that it still might take some time before banking relationship between Iran and the Philippines is reestablished, as there are countries that are ahead of the Philippines in terms of priorities among banks in their countries.
“They are first looking at European Union countries. Then there is China, Japan and Korea,” he said. He then said that in the Asean region, top of their list are Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Tanhaei said they are looking to have Iran-Philippines relationship to move forward, especially on trade and in the tourism industry.
He said they are bringing a business delegation to the country later this year, as Iranian companies look for possible investments and partnerships.
At the same time, Tanhaei is also inviting Filipinos to visit their country, where he said visas are given upon arrival. He said Iran offers a lot of destinations for those who are into ecotourism and are going into religious pilgrimage.
Image credits: Rodel Alzona