Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce has proposed that both countries create a joint bank in a bid to resolve the financial problems that have been caused by the reimposition of unilateral US sanctions on Iran, IRNA reports.
Reza Kami, President of Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce, made the proposal in a meeting with business authorities at the İskenderun Chamber of Commerce in the southern Turkish province of Hatay.
“Creating this joint bank by the two country’s private sectors is the solution to resolve these problems,” Kami said on Monday.
“Turks have accepted the idea and have move it forward and are waiting for the Turkish Central Bank (CTBM) license,” he added, according to the Anadolu Agency.
He said that 50% of Iranian exports to Turkey made up the 50% of the country’s exported items. “Iran-Turkey bilateral trade volume was $22bn in 2012 at the height of the pressures and US sanctions, after the nuclear deal signing, it stood at $11bn,” he noted.
The two country’s mutual trade exchanges stood at $8bn during the past five months of 2019, saying it’s expected to rise to $12bn by the year’s end.
Tehran and Ankara have set sights on a trade volume of $30bn per year in the next two years.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran and Turkey are seeking to launch their own financial channel to skirt the US sanctions on banking ties with Iran.
Also, Qasem Karimi, a member of the Urmia local chamber in north-western Iran, stressed the need for faster clearance of banking transactions between Iran and Turkey, proposing that both countries set up a joint exchange shop to help the Iranian and Turkish businessmen.