TEHRAN (Iran News) – Vice-President and secretary of Secretary of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones says some foreign investment worth of $148m in free trade zones and some $15m in special economic zones have been done which totals $163m and it accounts for 17% of the total foreign investment of the country in the past year.

Speaking at a press conference, Saeed Mohammad said according to the statistics, exports from free trade zones last year were around $1.2b and the figure stood at $15.6 for the special economic zones, adding that the total exports from these zones last year were $15.7, reiterating that these figures do not include the transit and it is just for the products of the zones.

He refuted the claims that free and special economic zones turned into a launching pad for imports last year, noting that last year we witnesses imports worth of $1.106b in free trade zones and $3.59b in the special economic zones and the total imports stood at $4.7b.

He went on to say that the license to establish the first offshore bank in the country has been issued by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

An offshore bank is a bank regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment.

Mohammad said Thursday that the establishment of an offshore bank will provide financial resources for various projects in the free zones.

He added: “As I said, the shareholders of the offshore bank are foreigners, but Iranians outside of Iran also can transfer their currencies to these offshore banks without worrying about problems in the banks under the supervision of the Central Bank of our country, because these banks are independent of the Central Bank.”

Therefore, he said, the Iranians abroad are expected to welcome the transfer of currency to offshore banks in the free zones.

Referring to the investment of 6.1 trillion in free trade, industrial and special economic zones in the form of 82 projects, the adviser to the president said that these projects were in five free trade and industrial zones and seven special economic zones.

According to Mohammad, a large number of projects in free trade, industrial and special zones would be put into operation every season, which would be in line with the boosting of production and job creation.

According to Mohammad, foreign investment in free and special zones is 17% of the total foreign investment in the country in 2021.