Official: $10b worth of foreign investment plans defined in post-JCPOA era

Tehran, Jan 13, IRNA - A total of 152 foreign investment projects worth $10 billion have been defined in the industrial, mining and trade sectors, of which 57 have received permits and become operational.

Following the breakthroughs in Iran's foreign relations after President Hassan Rouhani administration assumed office in 2013, the country has scored numerous achievements among which has been the growth in foreign investment, Afrouz Bahrami, the foreign investment director general of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade told IRNA commenting on the gains made by the country within two years after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed between Iran and the P5+1, went into effect in January 2016.

She listed the ministry's priorities over past few years as boosting investments in Iranian projects, encouraging investment companies to cooperate and helping Iran join the global production chain.

Bahrami added since September 2017, the 12th government has defined 38 foreign investment projects valued at $1.98 billion.

She said these figures pertain to ventures which have managed to obtain establishment permit, for which land has been purchased and have foreign investment guarantee.

Bahrami underlined that attracting foreign investments is not an overnight process.

The inflow of foreign funds into projects will be guaranteed once such schemes steadily begin to show tangible physical progress on the ground, she added.

Bahrami noted that all the cooperation agreements with foreign investors have stipulated issues such as the transfer of modern technologies into the country, joining the chain of global production and the precondition of Iran being able to export 30 percent of the joint final products.

Turning to the diversity of the fields in which foreign investments have been made in the post-sanctions era, she said prior to the implementation of the JCPOA, the majority of the these funds targeted the production of raw materials, base metals and petrochemicals.

'This comes as today, foreign financers show greater interest in producing chemicals, manufacturing internal combustion engine-based vehicles, production of rubber, plastic products and medical instruments and expanding electronic trade.'

Previously, she said, foreign investments were mainly destined for Iran's industrial metropolises such as Tehran and Isfahan. 'However, at present, other Iranian provinces have also joined the list such as Fars (southwestern Iran), Bushehr (southern Iran), Kerman (southeast Iran) and Sistan-Baluchestan (southeast Iran).'

Bahrami listed major investors in Iranian projects as Germany, Turkey, France, Austria and Russia, respectively.

Source: Iran Daily