By Mark Ford

The executive director of the Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) has said he sees no limits to the amount of letters of credit (L/C) the bank may open in support of Iranian exports.

The comment by Dr Noruz Kohzadi apparently confirms a trend over recent years for the EDBI to increasingly use L/Cs to support the country's exports.

Prediction

Kohzadi this month told a meeting of Iranian trade attachés that EDBI remains committed to supporting exporters through a range of financing and insurance products.

He also predicted that in the current fiscal year (to March 2007), that the bank would not impose any limits on the amount of L/Cs it opens to support Iranian exports.

Projects and priorities

The bank director said L/Cs had recently been provided for several major exports, including the building of a wastewater facility in Uzbekistan, a power transmission line to carry Iran's electricity to Iraq and auto exports to Afghanistan.

Kohzadi also said that opening an EDBI branch office in Kazakhstan was high on his agenda this year.

L/C trend

In the first nine months of the last financial year the EBDI had notched up over US$1 billion of L/Cs, mainly in support of exports of commodities and technical engineering service sectors.

Kohzadi said that the number of L/C contracts issued in the year ending March 2006 had increased considerably compared with the year before.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.