TEHRAN: Austrian banks are ready to boost cooperation with Iran, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling said after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Tayyebnia in Vienna on June 2. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 37th session of the Ministerial Council of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development (OFID), ISNA reported on Sunday. During the meeting Schelling stressed the need for stronger ties between the two countries’ banks and said that Austrian banks have been notified in this regard.
Touching upon previous agreements between the two sides during Schelling’s meeting with Mohammad Khazaei, the Iranian deputy finance minister and the head of Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, Tayyebnia called for enhancement of economic cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides also expressed willingness to finalize the double taxation avoidance agreement and emphasized the relevant negotiations to be conducted as soon as possible. During his stay in Vienna, Tayyebnia also met with Rudolf Scholten, the managing director of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG (OeKB), Austria’s Export Guarantee Bank which provides services for exports and foreign investment.
During the meeting Scholten underlined the opening of a new chapter in trade and investment relations between the two countries and said that Kontrollbank is ready to cover the financing and issue the necessary guarantees for approved projects by Iran. The Iranian minister, for his part, stressed accelerating the implementation of the mentioned projects and expressed the ministry’s readiness for cooperation in all mutually agreed financial and banking spheres.
