Baku, Azerbaijan August 10
By Farhad Daneshvar -Trend:
Central banks of Iran and Azerbaijan will open settlement accounts, Iran's Central Bank Chief Valiollah Seif said in Baku.
In an interview with Trend on the sidelines of bilateral meetings between the Presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan, Hassan Rouhani and Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Seif said that according to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the central banks of the two countries the banks will open settlement accounts.
“Meeting with my colleague Elman Rustamov, head of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, was the main purpose of my visit to Azerbaijan. We discussed expansion of bilateral ties during the meetings today. Economic capacities in both countries require us to seriously increase the volume of trade turnover,” Seif said.
The best and the most secure way for defraying the cost of transactions is through the banking system, he added.
A settlement account in fact is the main factor which is capable of defraying the cost of transactions, he added.
Under the MoU, the central banks of Iran and Azerbaijan will encourage commercial banks from both countries to establish banking ties, he said.
The chief of Central Bank of Iran added that the way for establishing the branches of Iranian and Azerbaijani banks in both countries has been paved.
He further said that under the terms of the MoU the banking card systems of Iran and Azerbaijan will be switched therefore the citizens from the two countries can use their banking cards in Iran and Azerbaijan.
A ceremony of signing several documents was held after the expanded meeting with Aliyev and Rouhani on August 7. The MoUs specified cooperation in industry, banking, transport, science, tourism, culture, etc.
Tehran and Baku signed 11 MoUs upon Aliyev’s visit to Tehran February 23.