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Iran grants Ecuador $40 mn credit line(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Tehran, Dec 9 (EFE).- Iran's Development and Export Bank has granted a $40 million credit line to Ecuador, state television reported Tuesday. The bank's head, Kurosh Parvizian, said Iran needed to broaden its bilateral cooperation with Ecuador. "After the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Development and Export Bank and the Ecuadorian Central Bank, the concession was approved for a $40 million line of credit" for the Latin American country, Parvizian said. The Iranian official added that his country is studying creating another "line of credit (for Ecuador) for $80 million." Parvizian added that the $40 million credit line will be able to be used in the short or medium term, and payment on it is guaranteed by the Ecuadorian government. In recent days, Iran and Ecuador have signed 12 memoranda of understanding in the political, industrial, banking, petroleum, mining and cement sectors, among others, within the framework of the five-day visit by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to the Muslim country. Tuesday is the last day of a trip whose aim has been to increase the bilateral links between the two countries, which will open embassies in each other's capitals in January. On Tuesday, Correa is visiting the rich cultural area of Isfahan, south of the capital, before leaving for Ecuador in the afternoon. On Monday, Correa had the opportunity to get to know the industrial area of Pars, in southern Iran, where he asked for the country's cooperation in reactivating the petrochemical industry in the South American nation. Currently, trade between Ecuador and Iran stands at $4 million per year, a quantity that both want to increase, according to an announcement made by Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador during the visit. EFE msh/bp Copyright ? 2008 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |