Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the Second Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Exclusive Exhibition on Tuesday, Hojatollah Abdolmaleki said: “The preparation of investment projects to introduce the country’s free and special economic zones to international economic operators and investors was put on the agenda since the beginning of the current [Iranian calendar] year (late March 2023).”

“Investment projects are considered as a tool to introduce the opportunities and advantages of investment in the country’s free and special economic zones to the economic operators. The preliminary studies of each of these projects have been done, the infrastructure has been provided and the necessary licenses have been issued,” Abdolmaleki explained.

According to the official, the mentioned investment packages have been unveiled in four stages since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, the last of which worth 2.5 quadrillion rials (about $5.0 billion) was presented in the EAEU exclusive exhibition.

Abdolmaleki noted that over 370 trillion rials (about $740 million) of investment has been attracted in the country’s free and special economic zones in the current year and investors have also applied to invest 4.3 quadrillion rials (about $8.6 billion) in 1,400 projects based in seven different free zones across the country.

The secretary of the Free Zones High Council emphasized that these zones are considered as poles of the economic progress, adding: “Free and special economic zones are frontiers of the country’s international economy and more than a third of the country’s non-oil exports was done from these zones.

The establishment of free trade zones (FTZs) in Iran dates back to the Iranian calendar year 1368 (March 1989 – March 1990) following the fall in the country’s oil income in the preceding year which prompted the government to promote non-oil exports.

The first two free trade zones of Iran were established in the south of the country. The first one was Kish Free Trade Zone established in 1368 on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf and the second one was Qeshm Free Trade Zone established the year after on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Some five other free trade zones have been also established in the country since then, including Chabahar in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Arvand in southwestern Khuzestan Province, Anzali in northern Gilan Province, Aras in East-Azarbaijan Province and Maku in West-Azarbaijan Province, both in the northwest of the country.

The development of existing free trade zones and the establishment of new FTZs has become one of the major economic approaches of the Iranian government.

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In a videoconference on Thursday morning, President Rouhani ordered the inauguration of the 60 economic and infrastructural projects in the free trade-industrial zones and the special economic zones.

The projects are situated in six free and special trade zones across the country, including four industrial plants in the Sahlan Special Economic Zone, a steel production factory, and four other industrial plants in the Salafchegan Special Economic Zone in Qom Province.

The other projects that came into operation on Thursday include an extra-heavy crude oil refinery and 26 economic and infrastructural projects in Qeshm Free Zone, four pier construction projects at port complexes and coastal areas, 14 industrial and infrastructural projects, energy and industrial plants in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Bushehr Province, as well as three logistical and industrial development projects in Kaveh Special Economic Zone in Markazi Province.

Carried out with a total fund of 9.46 trillion tomans, the sixty projects have created employment for over 3,200 people.

After the inaugural ceremony, Rouhani called the 56 percent increase in foreign investment in the country’s free zones a sign of the defeat of {US} maximum pressure and economic terrorism.

He said: “Statistics show that Iran has been successful in transforming free zones from importers to exporters of products.”

Emphasizing the importance of Iran’s free trade and special economic zones, Rouhani said: “Exports of goods from these areas abroad amount to 138 billion dollars, and in contrast, Iran’s imports in these areas have been a total of 47 billion dollars.”

Pointing out that free zones can help the country’s economy in the face of sanctions, the Iranian president added: “Iran’s free and special economic zones have had a total increase of 56% in domestic and foreign investment compared to last year, which shows the growth and improvement of the attractiveness of the areas and successful government performance in this area.”

Rouhani stated that today in almost all countries of the region, free and special trade and economic zones are operating, adding: “Many free and special economic zones, both in the south and in the north of Iran, have the capacity and possibility of attracting tourists and prosperity of related economic activities.”

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Speaking in the National Export Day ceremony, Hamid Reza Zadboum said that the policy of the ministry of industry, mine, and trade is focused on two axes of the abundance of goods and easing forex commitments of exporters, adding that by new approval which will be announced next week, more details will be released on removing the forex commitments of exporters.

He went on to say that the first priority of exports of the country is the neighboring states as well as India and China and the second priority is the other Asian, African, and some Latin American states.

Zadboum reiterated that in terms of exporting goods, any commodity with higher value-added will be the priority in order to reduce the raw material sales, admitting that it is impossible to have an immediate halt to raw material sales and it should happen gradually.

He added that the other policy of the organization is to sign agreements with the domestic bodies and also free trade agreements with other countries, and talks on free trade with Pakistan are underway.

Zadboum also on Sunday night and in a TV program said that Iran can gain more share of imports of the neighboring states, adding that the value of imports of those countries is around $1200b and Iran can export $100b of goods to those states. He admitted that if Iran wants to increase its share of those countries’ imports, it requires to reinforce its export production.

He said the total volume of Iran’s exports is around $41b that $24b of it is to the neighboring states and in order to boost the figure, export production should be increased.

He added that according to the TPO studies, Pakistan has a good capacity for Iran’s exports and Iran can export $16b of goods out of its 100-billion-dollar export target set for the next year.

Zadboum admitted that programs for foreign trade are based on international agreements but Iran’s condition is different from other countries.

He also said the organization is to dispatch a trade delegation to Idlib of Syria.

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Taken together, rapid action against rising temperatures and a renewed commitment to globalization would put the world economy on track for 2050 output of $185 trillion. Delaying moves to cut carbon emissions, and allowing cross-border ties to fray, could cap it at $149 trillion—the equivalent of kissing goodbye to the entire GDP of the U.S. and China last year.

If there were such a thing as a global economic planner, they would clearly pick the first option.

In the real world, it’s not that simple. Whether they’re in Washington DC or Beijing, Brussels or New Delhi, leaders don’t typically make the pursuit of a global optimum their top priority. They’re focused instead on national interests, and the relative economic strength that determines the geopolitical pecking order.

Choices in the fight against climate change, and the degree of cross-border integration don’t just affect the size of the global economic cake. They affect how it’s divided up as well.

An early start on cooling a hot planet would be good for everyone, but it would benefit Southern-hemisphere emerging markets much more than advanced Northern economies. And the same goes for globalization. More of it would make all countries better off—but the biggest gains would accrue to middle-income economies sprinting toward the technological frontier, not wealthier rivals attempting to cling onto their competitive edge.

For the U.S., commitment to a low-carbon, free-trade future would—all else being equal—hasten the moment when it gets overtaken by China as the world’s biggest economy. In Bloomberg Economics’ baseline forecast, that seismic shift occurs in 2035. By 2050, China would have significantly extended its lead.

In an alternative future, where the U.S. delays action against climate change and throws up barriers to trade and technology transfers—as it has in the past four years—China catches up with the U.S. in the 2040s, but never moves decisively ahead. In a smaller and hotter global economy, the U.S. would still have a claim to the number one spot.

Forecasting this far into the future isn’t a precise science. Bloomberg Economics projections represent the best estimate of stylized models that don’t claim to account for every variable. Still, they provide a sense of the immense impact that paths chosen today will have on the size and shape of the world economy. And the conclusions are clear enough.

The Covid shock—more than a million dead and the worst recession since the 1930s—provides a wake-up call on the need for an early, aggressive and coordinated response to the threat of climate change and risk of de-globalization. That response will have distributional implications that may not look favorable to governments in the West, and they will be tempted to hit the snooze button.

Without farsighted leadership, progress on the greatest challenges of the age will be difficult to achieve.

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