Tehran, Iran, Aug.29
Trend:
Afghanistan is currently negotiating with Iranian officials establishment of a joint bank, said Afghanistan business advisor.
"Setting up a joint bank or opening a branch of an Afghan bank in Iran has been requested by Iranian officials and the Afghan government reviews the request," said Ahmad Saeed Sadat, Trend reports citing ILNA.
"The transaction problems for Iranian businessmen will be solved, if the initiative is implemented, and Iranian investments will be able to transfer money easily," he added.
"The simple regulation and low costs are the main advantages of the Afghan bank. Obtaining trade or industrial certificate costs 200,000 rial (about $4)," he noted.
"Furthermore, Afghanistan is a member of World Trade Organization as a less developed country; therefore, China, US, the EU, India, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates will not impose any trade tariffs on Afghan goods, and this is a good opportunity for Iranian investors and for re-export via Afghanistan," he said.
"At the moment, money transaction is done via foreign exchange offices, but, unfortunately, the attitude towards Afghan foreign exchange agents in Iran was not positive. A meeting was held recently with the head of economic committee in Iran's Parliament to address the issue," he added.
"Afghan foreign exchange agents have objected a court ruling to block their bank accounts in the amount of $20 million without a notice, while they were fined for money transactions," he said.
"The Afghan foreign exchange agents were put in prison, because they transferred money during a time of the sanctions on banking. Currently, we are negotiating with Iranian officials in order to solve this problem," he added.