South Korea to start euro-based settlement in trade with Iran

By Park Sae-jin Posted : August 25, 2016, 15:47 Updated : August 25, 2016, 15:47

A pile picture showing an Iranian carpet shop.[Yonhap News Photo]


South Korea will implement a euro-based settlement system for trade with Iran next week, a top economic official said Thursday, clearing a major hurdle that has hampered business ties between the two countries.

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said the euro-based settlement system will be allowed from August 29, "A major hurdle which has hampered active investment and trade with Iran was cleared."

KEB Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank will handle the new system which uses the euro as a medium of trade in a way favored Iran.

In January, the International Atomic Energy Agency declared that Iran had fulfilled requirements to limit its nuclear activities, a step that automatically lifted nuclear-related economic sanctions imposed by the international community.

The move ended a prolonged isolation that has driven Iran into a deep economic malaise and opened up South Korea's business opportunities across a host of sectors from construction to automobiles.

Analysts say South Korea's construction sector will greatly benefit from the lifting of sanctions on Iran. South Korean builders once had clinched deals worth $12 billion with Iran for decades, but since 2009, there have been few deals due to UN sanctions.

Iran plans to invest more than $100 billion that had been frozen under the economic sanctions into replenishing oil infrastructure, modernizing aged refinery facilities.

Aju News Lim Chng-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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