Baku, Azerbaijan, May 27
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Managing Director of Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) Afrooz Bahrami tweeted that EGFI and some European countries will sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) to facilitate trade relations, Trend reports via Mehr News Agency.
Considering the activation of INSTEX in the coming weeks, these MoUs will create new capacities for Iran-Europe trade in light of the trade mechanism, she added.
Bahrami mentioned that the exchange of credit information between Iranian and European companies, reinsurance or joint insurance, and technical and educational cooperation are among the priorities of the future agreements.
The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), EU's special payment channel with Iran, was announced by the EU in January 2019 to secure trade with Iran and skirt US anti-Iran sanctions after Washington pulled out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA) in May 2018.
Iran in turn has set up a matching channel called Special Trade and Finance Instrument (STFI). The Islamic Republic has given Europeans about a year to implement the mechanism, and now expects them to implement the arrangement. The mechanism, which will deal essentially with food and medical trade, is struggling to become operational in the face of US pressure.