The Department of Finance said that Iran wants to import bananas from the Philippines and plans to invest in infrastructure and energy.
DOF revealed on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran is planning to import more bananas and explore areas of investment and cooperation in infrastructure and energy in the country.
In a statement released by the agency, the DOF said Iran was considering to foster better economic relations with the country.
“In the Iranian private sector…for example regarding bananas, there are some big companies that said we still need more bananas from the Philippines,” the department said.
It quoted Iranian Ambassador to Manila Mohammad Tanhaei as telling Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez in a courtesy call on October 14.
Before, banana producers in the Philippines used to export 30 percent of their produce to Iran.
However, the past UN trade restrictions imposed on the Islamic State led to a decline in Philippine banana shipments to the said country.
“The recent lifting of the trade sanctions could mean Iran might once again be one of the Philippines’ largest markets for its fresh banana exports,” DOF said.
Earlier, the Chinese government has lifted the ban on the import of bananas coming from the Philippines, before the scheduled state visit of Presidente Rodrigo Duterte to Beijing.
During his courtesy call at the Department of Agriculture in early October, Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said China would now accept bananas and pineapples from Philippine-based exporters.
On the other hand, Ambassador Tanhaei also said companies in Iran are interested in investing in the Philippines, particularly in infrastructure, power transmission, and water purification projects.
Tanhaei added that the Iranian government of has expressed interest in working with the Philippines’ energy sector, particularly in the fields of oil exploration and the petroleum product trade.
DOF added that the ambassador also said he wanted to strengthen connections between Iran’s and the Philippines’ central banks “to pave the way for Iranian investors to start doing business in the Philippines.”