South Korean firms sign deals to build hospitals in Iran

South Korean firms have signed agreements to build hospitals in Iran, Semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.

Samsung C&T Corp., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. and four other S. Korean companies signed seven memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Iranian medical schools to build seven medical centers with a combined 6,000 beds.

The deals are estimated to be worth two billion U.S. dollars in total, the report quoted a source in the Iranian Ministry of Health and Welfare as saying.

On Tuesday, South Korea and Iran signed an agreement to jointly tackle their environmental issues, Mehr reported.

The MoU was signed here by South Korea's Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu and Masoumeh Ebtakar as the Iranian vice president for environmental issues.

Under the agreement, the two countries will exchange information on waste management and preservation of wetlands, and will hold joint seminars that will further promote exchange of information and cooperation.

The MoUs came after a series of business deals signed earlier this month during South Korean President Park Geun-hye visit to the Islamic republic.

During her visit, Park offered 25 billion U.S. dollars aid for infrastructure investment in Iran, declaring her support for the facilitation of customs and banking affairs between Tehran and Seoul.

According to reports, Iran-South Korea trade value stood at 6.1 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2015, two times lower than the turnover in 2011, as a result of western sanction pressures against Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

However, a nuclear agreement reached between the world powers and Iran in July 2015 and implemented in January has raised hopes here to reengage the latter with the global economy. Endit