Iranian bank to open branch in Ecuador

The Export Development Bank of Iran reportedly plans to open a branch in Ecuador in an effort to increase the country’s financial activities in South America.

Carlos Vallejo, head of Ecuador’s Central Bank, says the Iranian bank will help promote trade between Tehran and Quito.

“The agreement is in line with the Ecuadorian government’s policy to develop trade and diplomatic relations with many countries in the world to expand its market,” Xinhua quoted Vallejo as saying on Wednesday.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa during his visit to Tehran in 2008 signed a deal with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to increase economic ties with Iran including financial cooperation.

Vallejo says the branch will ease monetary transactions and help Ecuadorian exporters to receive payments from Iranian importers faster.

Iran has agreed to open a $40 million credit line for Ecuadorian exporters and consider depositing some $145 million in Ecuador’s central bank, Vallejo said.

During his first four-year term in office, President Ahmadinejad pursued a policy of expanding relations with South American countries such as Ecuador, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba.