TEHRAN The first Iranian private bank, to be owned by the Construction Investment Company of Iran and Behshahr Industrial Development Organization, is scheduled to open soon.

The Director of the Construction Investment Company of Iran, Hossein Abdo-Tabrizi, said on Thursday that Iran's Economy Bank will be open to the public soon and will play a major role in the field of construction. He said that the bank will finance projects such as housing programs.

According to Abdo, 30,000 residential units are currently under construction by the company and it is fully supported by the Housing Development Ministry. The company is planning to improve the country's technical and engineering capacities in order to reduce construction costs of residential units.