TEHRAN – Iran and the World Bank (WB) will sign a three-year cooperation agreement by November 2006, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance announced on Sunday.

The contents of the agreements should include the rate of economic and population growth, GDP (gross domestic product) index and other social and economic matters while the government needs to review and approve the contents before they take effect.

Transportation and road safety projects, technical and vocational programs and the second phase of Tehran Water and Wastewater Project are among the plans on the priority list. The Phase I of the wastewater project has partially been financed by the WB and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as several other projects in progress have also received funds from these financial institutes, the report indicated.

Economists believe that Iran may easily capitalize on the experiences gained by the UN, WB and IDB to further ensue and speed up her development plans. The World Bank has 184 member states.