Iran, Malaysia Mull Ditching Dollar for National Currencies in Trade

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) for foreign exchange affairs Gholamali Kamyab said Iran and Malaysia might soon begin trading in national currencies instead of the greenback, AVA Diplomatic reports.

“Iran welcomes Malaysian banks’ enthusiasm to open accounts in Malaysian currency, ringgit, in the Iranian banks,” Kamyab who is currently in Kuala Lumpur at the head of a banking delegation said on Saturday.

The CBI’s deputy governor reiterated that Iran welcomes mutual cooperation with the Malaysian banks.

Kamyab also said that the Chinese Yuan or Japanese Yen can also be used in transactions if deemed necessary.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Adnan Zaylani Mohamad Zahid welcomed the idea of using Yuan or Yen in transactions.

He said that Kuala Lumpur is presently using Yuan and Yen to carry out its transactions and this will help promote Iran-Malaysia trade relations.

In relevant remarks in late December, Malaysian Ambassador to Iran Raja Nushirwan Zainal Abidin and Head of Iran-Malaysia Parliamentary Friendship Group Mahmoud Sadeqi in a meeting in Tehran underlined the need for bolstering mutual cooperation.

During the meeting in the Iranian capital, Abidin and Sadeqi explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating of bilateral ties in different areas.

During the meeting, the senior Iranian lawmaker said that roots of crises and insecurities in the region are terrorist and extremist groups.

“Muslim states should confront the terrorist and extremist groups through unity,” Sadeqi said.

Abidin, for his part, voiced his pleasure in the growing trend of ties between the two countries, and said, “In recent years good political, economic and trade relations have been established between Iran and Malaysia.”

The volume of Tehran-Kuala Lumpur bilateral trade turnover hit $700 million in the year 2015.

Following his meeting with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in August, Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak said his country’s plantation industries and commodities will make a visit to Iran as well as that a regional bureau of Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will be opened in Tehran in the first quarter of the coming year.