TEHRAN, Iran, Sep. 8
Trend:
Return of South Korean home appliance brands to Iran in exchange for releasing Iran's frozen assets in South Korean banks is not a priority, the secretary of Iran and South Korea Joint Chamber of Commerce told Trend in an interview.
Possible discussion about the return of brands to Iran depends on South Korean company's decision and that transferring knowledge and technology is on their new agenda, Pouya Firouzi has indicated.
He noted that the other part of the topic relies on Iran's domestic regulations, and at the moment import of home appliance products is not on the agenda and it is not expected that the import prohibition law is being ignored under specific situations.
"In terms of import of home appliance in exchange for the unfreezing of Iran's assets, the Iran South Korea Chamber of Commerce has made an inquiry and based on our information no discussion has been made about the import of home appliance," Firouzi emphasized.
"If there has been conversation about importing commodity in exchange for the release of blocked assets, the priority should be the import of medical commodity and technologies," he stressed.
He added that the meeting between the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade and representatives of home appliance unions were about the roadmap and they had no connection to the return of South Korean brands to Iran.
Firouzi indicated that the priority of negotiation with the South Korean side would be related to other items including South Korea's unfinished investment in a petrochemical sector that halted due to re-imposed sanctions against Iran, while investment in the electric auto sector also has higher priority over South Korean home appliance brands.
South Korea's LG Electronics and Samsung have ended their presence in the Iranian market following the US re-imposed sanctions in 2018.
