Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.10
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran will use $4.5 billion worth of Chinese financing through opening letters of credit (LC) for implementing 12 petrochemical projects.
Ali Majedi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs and trade, said legal procedure for opening LCs for eight projects has been completed so far, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on September 10.
A letter of credit is a document issued by a financial institution, or a similar party, assuring payment to a seller of goods or services provided certain documents have been presented to the bank.
Iranian and Chinese presidents are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the 14th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from September 11 to 12.
Iran's $22 billion worth of assets has been frozen in China. The country is not able to transfer its exported oil money into the country due to international sanctions.
Chinese companies have agreed to invest 2-3 times of the sum in Iranian projects.
Asadollah Asgaroladi, the chairman of Iran-China joint chamber of commerce, has said that 80 projects have been defined to use Chinese assets, including the construction of oil refineries, roads, power plants, and airports.
Earlier, Iranian media outlets quoted Speaker Ali Larijani as saying he has negotiated with Chinese officials to finance some $20 billion in development projects in Iran using frozen oil money during his last visit to Beijing in October.
Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported on April 21 that Iranian Minister of the Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayebnia has called for establishing special trade relations between Tehran and Beijing.
In recent years Iran-China trade has grown steadily commensurate with China's growing reliance on foreign energy and Western companies leaving the Iranian market.
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