Economy

Iran Set to Connect With Top Malaysian Banks (Financial Tribune – 3 June 2017)

After the lifting of some of Iran’s sanctions following the nuclear accord, the country’s banking system connected with small Malaysian banks though there are still no ties with major lenders, the head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said in a meeting with Malaysia’s ambassador to Iran on Wednesday.

“Banking issues pose major obstacles to bilateral trade since we are facing problems of transferring money or opening letters of credit,” Gholamhossein Shafei was also quoted as saying by ICCIMA’s website.

He noted that both countries’ officials and central bankers had constructive negotiations during President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to Malaysia and it is hoped that major Malaysian banks resolve their issues as soon as possible to boost bilateral trade.

Prior to this, CBI’s official website had reported that Malaysian central bank deputy governor, Encik Abdul Rasheed, welcomed the prospects of improving bilateral banking cooperation, saying Iranian banks will certainly have more room to operate in Malaysia following the signing of the agreement between their central banks.

The two countries drafted the first agreement on banking collaboration in April, which will be signed by the governors of their respective central banks. This is while an Iranian banking delegation visited Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, in February and met with senior managers of Malaysian commercial banks and officials of central bank (Bank Negara Malaysia).

Iranian State Banks Should Publicize Data (Financial Tribune – 3 June 2017)

Money and Credit Council–a decision-making body–has called on state-owned lenders for the first time to make their financial data publicly available in line with measures to boost transparency.

In its latest meeting on Tuesday, MCC, which is headed by Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif, obligated public-sector banks to publish data concerning their performance within the framework of “Regulations Overseeing Minimum Standards of Transparency and Public Release of Information by Credit Institutions” from the beginning of the next fiscal year (March 21, 2018).

The framework had been previously made mandatory for private banks and credit institutions in  March 2014, with the goal of “increasing transparency in banks and preparing the grounds for enforcing a general oversight over the banking system in line with the new standards of banking supervision”, according to the official website of CBI.

Iran envoy urges joint investments between Iranian, French companies (IRNA – 3 June 2017)

Iran’s ambassador to Paris has urged the need for technology transfer from France to Iran, as well as joint investment by French companies and their Iranian peers in the Islamic Republic.

“We, in Iran, similar to you in France, are obsessed with boosting our exports in order to decrease our dependence on oil revenues,” Ali Ahani said Friday in a forum hosted by the Arle exporters’ association as well as the region’s Chamber of Commerce and that of the CCI Nice Côte d’Azur in southern France.
Ahani recommended the French businessmen to visit Iran to assess the vast capacity for cooperation with the Islamic Republic and to engage with credible partners to make joint investments.

International

Iran, Georgia discuss issues of mutual interest (IRNA – 3 June 2017)

Iranian ambassador to Georgia Javad Ghavam Shahidi and Georgian Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili in a meeting reviewed ways to promote agricultural cooperation.

Addressing the meeting, Davitashvili pointed to the MoU signed during Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili’s trip to Iran and also Iran’s support for developing ties between two countries as valuable.
He also referred to both countries’ cooperation in creating modern farms, livestock control, making honey, fruits, production infrastructure and advanced slaughterhouses, saying that access to Iran’s market is important.

 

Iran, Slovenia agree on developing ties (IRNA – 3 June 2017)

Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek in a meeting agreed on developing cooperation.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2017),Vaezi said Slovenian president’s trip to Iran and opening embassy in Tehran have led to create joint commission.
He also pointed to the signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the communications field between two countries, and said that the document will promote Information and communication technology (ICT) cooperation.
Počivalšek also addressed the meeting and congratulated Hassan Rouhani’s re-election as Iranian President.

 

Energy

Iran Oil Minister Sees 700,000 bpd Rise in Crude Output by 2021 (Financial Tribune – 2 June 2017)

Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says Iran plans to raise crude oil output by 700,000 barrels per day in the long run, a decision that does not interfere with OPEC’s short term reduced supply plans.

“We are keen to raise crude production capacity to 4.7 million barrels a day by 2021. We are talking about production plans in mid and long-term and our target does not complicate OPEC’s short-term decisions,” Zanganeh was cited as saying in an interview with Argus, Shana reported on Wednesday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries extended an agreement to cut crude supplies by 1.2 million bpd for the first half of 2017 by nine months to March 2018. The deal, supported by 600,000 bpd in cuts from non-members such as Russia, is a global effort to reduce bloated stockpiles of crude oil and raise low prices.

Under the deal, Iran is allowed to pump 3.8 million bpd on average by the first quarter of next year.

 

Asian Imports of Iranian Crude Rise (Financial Tribune – 2 June 2017)

The four biggest buyers of Iranian crude oil in Asia increased their imports in April by nearly 23% from a year earlier as Tehran’s exemption from a global production cuts favors the country’s oil export drive.

China, India, South Korea and Japan imported 1.6 million barrels per day last month, government and ship-tracking data showed, Reuters reported.

However, exports to Asia were down nearly 18% from March, suggesting Iran may be at the limits of its efforts to boost production after sanctions wereIran lifted in January 2015. Iran has cleared out most of the oil it held in storage while the sanctions were in place. Asian countries buy most of the oil the country exports.

Iran is pushing hard to raise production and hopes to sign deals with oil majors such as Total and Lukoil this year after the re-election this month of President Hassan Rouhani.

A tender for the Azadegan Oilfield, which has an estimated 37 billion barrels of crude, was announced Monday, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.