FNA- Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif in a meeting with Indonesian Minister of Economic Coordination Darmin Nasution in Tehran on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on banking cooperation.

“Iran and Indonesia signed a MoU to boost their banking relations,” Seif said during the meeting in the Iranian capital today.

The CBI governor said that as per MoU the two countries’ central banks can take part in business activities by using their national currencies.

The Indonesian economic coordination minister, for his part, said the two countries’ banking relations influence their investment and trade transactions.

In relevant remarks in late December, Indonesia's Eximbank CEO Ngalim Sawega announced that his institution will begin banking cooperation with Iran in the near future.

"Iran’s monetary transactions are currently being carried out through a third-party country which makes the process costly and time-consuming,” Sawega told reporters.

The senior Indonesia banker said that his bank is ready to resume banking interactions with Iran within the framework of mutual agreement between Indonesia Eximbank and Export Development Bank of Iran (EDBI) in a bid to further develop trade ties between the two states.

The official however noted that direct banking cooperation will soon begin between the two sides.

Also earlier in December, Indonesian President Joko Widodo voiced his country's willingness to expand mutual cooperation with Iran in economic and trade fields.

"We hope a new era of relations will begin in Indonesia-Iran relations," President Widodo told reporters.

"I have agreed with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to raise the volume of exchanges between Tehran and Ankara to the level of two billion dollars from the current $280 million," he added.