Senior representatives from the private sectors of Iran and Kyrgyzstan have urged the need for creating new payment mechanisms between the two countries.
President of the Kyrgyz Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Danil Ibraev, visited Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) on Thursday where he had a meeting with a number of Iranian private sector actors.
Speaking during the meeting, the ICCIMA Vice President Qadir Qiafeh said that major problems, including the lack of financial and banking mechanisms are hindering trade relations between Iran and Kyrgyzstan.
Many efforts were made between 2005 and 2007 to obtain licenses for the operation of two Iranian banks in Kyrgyzstan, he said, regretting that these attempts failed to succeed.
The operation of Iranian state and private banks in Kyrgyzstan will undoubtedly help the promotion of trade ties between the two countries, Qiafeh said.
Hamed Asgari, the ICCIMA deputy for international affairs, also spoke during the meeting and stressed the need for expansion of transportation and payment systems as the main prerequisites for more enhanced trade with Kyrgyzstan.
He said that “we have to introduce new mechanisms which are independent from the banking networks.”
He proposed that the Iranian knowledge-based companies active in the area of payment systems should have meetings with their counterparts from Kyrgyzstan so as to find new systems other than the usual banking solutions to carry out bilateral payments.
The Kyrgyzstani side, also said in the meantime that the Kyrgyz Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is seeking to carry out joint projects with the Iranian private sector.
Ibraev voiced the union’s readiness for cooperation with Iran and third countries on transportation and logistics areas.
He also touched upon the payment systems between Iran and Kyrgyzstan, and said that the two countries can also make use of the digital currencies within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as another payment mechanism.