Norway’s Foreign Minister Borge Brende announced that his country has opened a one-billion-dollar credit line for Norwegian companies’ exports to Iran.
About $400 million of that credit line has been used to export modern technologies to Iran, Brende said in a meeting with Iran’s Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ali Tayyebnia, IRNA reported.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 2016 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington D.C. on October 7-9.
Iran is a good trade partner due to its political stability and economic growth, Brende added.
Brende said his country encourages Norwegian companies, banks and financial institutions to cooperate with Iran.
He added that DNB, Norway’s largest financial services group, is due to be active in Iran’s market.
The Iranian finance minister said Tehran is willing to expand relations in different economic areas with Oslo.
Tayyebnia said he hoped that hindrances on the way of bilateral cooperation would be removed in the near future.
Oil, gas and fisheries are among the topics on which Oslo and Tehran can focus, Tayyebnia said.
In the sanctions era, the presence of the Norwegian oil companies faded away, Tayyebnia said, hoping that the two would resume cooperation as anti-Iran sanctions were lifted in January 2016.
He stressed the importance of the implementation of mutual agreements in order to promote the level of bilateral cooperation.
Tayyebnia further described banking cooperation as an important area for facilitating trade.