Iran has announced it is reviewing the launch of a joint development bank with Venezuela that would have over $1 billion in start-up funds.

“Iran and Venezuela have positive cooperation and are currently reviewing the launch of a joint bank after five meetings held on this issue so far,” Venezuelan Planning and Development Minister Haiman El Troudi told Mehr News in Isfahan on the sidelines of a meeting of the OPEC Fund for International Development.
A sixth meeting to further assess the joint project will be held next year in Iran, El Troudi said, adding that the session will also cover separate memorandums of understanding to be signed between the two countries.
The new joint development bank would be based in Tehran and would have $1.2 billion available in initial investment funds. The bank would finance projects in areas such as infrastructure, housing and technology.
Venezuela has traditionally enjoyed close cooperation with the Islamic Republic in a variety of sectors, Troudi said.
In recent years, Iran has assisted Venezuela in the construction of food and cement factories as well as in housing construction. The Islamic Republic has also exported tractors to Venezuela and manufactured bicycles in the Latin American nation.
Venezuela’s development Minister added that by the end of the current year over 30 joint industrial projects with Iran will be underway in Venezuela including an auto manufacturing plant with an estimated capacity to produce 10,000 vehicles a year.
(Source: Press TV)