TEHRAN - Iran and Syria have agreed to set up a joint bank and special economic zones amid efforts to boost their economic cooperation, according to Iran’s transportation minister Rostam Qassemi who travelled to Damascus earlier this week.
Qassemi said that Iran and Syria are set to considerably expand their economic and trade ties now that Arab country is emerging from nearly a decade of war and terrorism.
He said he had discussed the establishment of joint free trade zones with Syrian authorities during his trip to Syria.
The minister said that the Iranian government’s top official on free trade zones will soon travel to Syria to sign final agreements on the issue.
Iran has been a major contributor to Syria’s war on terrorism since violence erupted in the country in 2011. Tehran has vowed it will continue to assist Damascus in its reconstruction efforts after the war.
Qassemi said that he had also reached agreements with Syrian authorities on setting up a joint Iranian-Syrian bank.
“It was agreed that the joint bank will be created in Syria. In line with this, it is expected that Iranian and Syrian banks should set up branches in each other’s countries,” he said.
The minister said that Iranian and Syrian authorities will hold meetings in the near future to finalize initial agreements reached during his trip to Syria.
He said talks in future will focus on increased presence of Iranian manufacturing companies in Syria, including those producing agricultural machinery and equipment to help boost farming activity in the Arab country in the post-war period.

Syria Joins China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Earlier on Wednesday, Syria joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which experts said is a great achievement of the BRI as it now has connected with the whole Middle East, demonstrating its influence and appeal.
The achievement comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s phone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in November 2021 and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Syria in July, last year, Global Times reported.
It also comes amid intensive visits of six other Middle East countries’ foreign ministers to China.
The deal will help Syria open broad horizons of cooperation with China and other countries and rebuild itself amid wars and economic sanctions from the West, like how China has helped Iraq, experts noted.
The ceremony of Syria’s admission into the BRI took place at the Planning and International Cooperation Commission in the capital Damascus and was attended by Fadi Khalil, the head of the commission, and Feng Biao, China’s ambassador to Syria, during which both sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Syria joining the BRI, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The BRI, proposed by China in 2013, comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming to build a trade, investment, and infrastructure network connecting Asia with other parts of the world along the ancient Silk Road trade routes and beyond.
Besides Syria, Nicaragua also signed an MOU to jointly push the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road on Wednesday as China and the Central American country moved closer to strengthen bilateral relations and economic cooperation.