The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the EU are to meet in Riyadh today for talks aimed at finalizing a long delayed free-trade agreement between the two blocs, the Saudi Press Agency said yesterday. The two-day meeting was expected to focus on a review of "technical details of the clauses" of the plan on "goods and intellectual property," SPA said. The meeting, at the level of experts, follows the decision by the EU and GCC in February to step up efforts to create a free trade zone linking the two groups. "GCC countries want to close negotiations and sign a free-trade accord with the EU as quickly as possible," GCC secretary general Abdul Rahman al-Attiya said in a statement. The 15-state EU has insisted that the GCC must have its own customs union before it signs a free-trade agreement with the petromonarchies, in a campaign that has already lasted more than a decade.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/05/27/story/0000137874
Low GraphicsMonday, 27 May, 2002, 09:20 GMT 10:20 UK
European banks support Iran
Anti-US feelings are running high in Iran
Two European banks have signed up to help Iran tap the international
capital markets.
The decision to help Iran flies in the face of the US view that the Middle
Eastern state is the most active state sponsor of terrorism and a member
of the "axis of evil".
Iran is set to announce on Monday that it is pressing ahead with its first
eurobond issue since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Germany's Commerzbank and France's BNP Paribas will handle the issue.
The appointment of the two high profile banks would mark the end of Iran's
struggle to rejoin global capital markets.
A spokesman from Commerzbank confirmed the German bank's role, but did not
have any other details about the size or timeframe of the issue.
Interest payment concerns
Mohammed-Jafar Mojarrad, vice-governor of the central bank told the
Financial Times newspaper that he was confident the bond issue would be
well received.
An official at the bank has suggested that Iran could raise up to 500m
euros ($460m; £316m) from the offer.
The eurobond issue has been subject to fierce internal debate, with
critics arguing that payment of interest on the loan conflicts with
Islamic principles.
The issue is expected to go ahead in the next few months, and could be
followed by others by state-owned industries such as oil and
petrochemicals.
It is not known whether the European banks will try and sell the bonds to
US investors.
Commerzbank had no comment on the political implications of its
involvement with Iran. WATCH/LISTEN
ON THIS STORY
Guy Dinmore, from the FT in Tehran
"The governor of the central bank... has been pressing for this
issue for several years"