Gov’t Approves $1.6b in New Foreign Investment Projects
According To Iran News, Iran has approved 32 new projects with direct investment from foreign nationals as authorities say the value of foreign direct investment (FDI) schemes approved over the past four month has tripled compared to the similar period last year.
A report by the Iranian finance ministry said that new FDI projects will be scattered in 12 out of the 31 Iranian provinces with an investment value of $1.6 billion.
The report said the new investment will come from nationals of various countries and will cover projects in energy, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation and services sector.
FDI projects should gain the approval of Iran’s Organization for Investment & Economic and Technical Assistance before they can be implemented. The body has endorsed more than $2.4 billion worth of new projects in the current Iranian calendar year that began late March.
The figure shows a three-fold increase year on year in late July, said the finance ministry report, adding that foreigners will bring investment to a total of 60 new projects that have been approved this year.
The growing foreign investment in Iran comes despite restrictions imposed by the United States on the country’s ability to engage in normal banking and finance activities with other countries.
The sanctions, imposed in 2018 after Washington decided to pull out of an international deal on Iran’s nuclear activity, have sought to deter governments and entities around the world from getting involved in development projects in Iran.
Government figures published earlier this year showed FDI into Iran had declined significantly in the year ending March 2019 at below $1 billion.
Meanwhile last week the latest data released by Iran’s Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry showed that the country’s industrial parks managed to attract 231 investors with a total $2.1 billion of investment in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).
This amount of investment led to the creation of 19,862 jobs in the industrial parks and zones.
According to the Industry Ministry, over 1,100 exporting industrial units are operating in the country’s industrial parks and zones whose annual export reaches up to $12.64 billion.
Based on the report, 62 export management companies (EMC) with an annual export of $236 million were identified in these areas and 72 export consortia with a total annual export of $352 million were also formed in the mentioned period.
The ministry also reported that 23 memorandums of understanding (MOU) were signed with foreign partners to develop international cooperation between small and medium industries in the previous Iranian calendar year.
