TEHRAN: Iran plans to buy more Philippine bananas, invest in infrastructure and energy projects, as well as set up branches of Iranian banks here, in a bid to foster better economic relations between the two countries. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a statement that in a recent courtesy call, Iranian Ambassador to Manila Mohammad Tanhaei told him that Tehran wants to strengthen connections between his state’s central bank and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to allow more Iranian investors to start doing business in the Philippines.
According to the finance chief, the ambassador said a deputy minister of Iran’s Finance Ministry will visit the Philippines in the first week of November “to discuss a framework of cooperation between Manila and Tehran.” “We do want to improve our relationship with Iran and we would be very happy to meet your Central Bank Governor,” Dominguez told Tanhaei. The finance chief assured Tanhaei that he “will certainly welcome all of Iran’s officials” to Manila to help reinvigorate bilateral relations between the two countries.
