“The policy of the Oil Ministry in the 13th government has been to make maximum use of the financing capacity from within the country. Hence, we have directed the capital of banks and large holdings of the country to the oil industry. For example, we opened the door to steelmakers to invest in the development of gas fields,” he told Fars news agency.

“It is necessary to use the financial power of these industries to provide them with stable gas. As a result, if the steel company invests in the development of gas fields, it will be exempted from applying restrictions on gas supply in the cold season of the year, because it will receive its gas from the developed field,” Falahatpour said.

The government also contacted large banks and holding companies to participate in the construction of oil refineries, including the Shahid Soleimani Oil Refinery.

“In addition, we have had detailed discussions with foreign countries to attract investment,” he added.

“So far, we have signed more than $80 billion of memorandums of understanding with foreign investors to participate in the financing of oil projects, including the development of fields and the construction of refineries. More than $5 billion of this amount has been converted into contracts, and the rest, God willing, will be converted into contracts one after the other.”

Iran is the holder of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves combined, and at current recovery rates, it can continue to produce hydrocarbon resources for another 100 years, according to state officials.

However, sustainable production in the industry requires investment and the use of modern equipment.

Falahatpour said the government is trying to make up for the backwardness in the field of investment by making maximum use of domestic capacities and developing relations with neighboring and Asian countries.

“God willing, good things will happen in the coming months and years,” he said without elaboration.

Last week, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said Iran plans to increase its oil and gas production capacity by 50%, for which it needs $160 billion of investment.

To achieve this, the country needs to invest $89 billion in the oil industry and $71 billion in the gas sector, Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said in an interview with official news agency IRNA.

“In order to increase the oil and gas production capacity in the country by 50%, we need an investment of $160 billion,” Khojasteh-Mehr said. “With this investment, the oil production capacity will reach 5.7 million barrels and the gas production capacity will hit 1.5 billion cubic meters per day,” he added.

The government is implementing 32 production maintenance projects signed by its predecessor. So far, seven plans to increase recovery and maintain production have come online and the rest are close to becoming operational.

Khojasteh-Mehr put the total value of contracts with Russians at $4.5 billion, which involve seven Iranian oil fields.

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Speaking in a press conference, Ali Fekri touched upon the performance the Organization for Investment Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran in the past 15 months and said that one of the most important actions of the government in this period has been reforming its statistical system and after its reform, only the approved attracted investments which are implemented  are registered in the statistical system and it is not supposed to announce the claim of investment on the paper without its implementation.

He said that from now on, the interest and willing to investment in Iran is not included in the statistics system of the organization. Fekri went on to say that the amount of the approved foreign investment in the country has been $10.2b.

He noted that Russians have been so far the top foreign investors in Iran with $2.7b investment and it is because of their investment in two oil projects in Iran.

He noted that in the past 15 months and after Russian investors, the UAE, Turkey, China and Afghanistan have been the second to fifth foreign investors in Iran.

Fekri noted that due to the current condition of the country, the amount of investment has entered the country via forex shops.

He also criticized the amount of investment of the Chinese in Iran and said that China has only invested some$185m in Iran in the same period which is not satisfactory considering talks and meeting, adding that the Chinese investment in Iran has been the same level of small and medium investments done by the neighboring countries and it has been mostly in the transportation and transit sectors.

Fekri also reiterated that major investors from the UAE are not actually Emirati nationals and they are from other nationals and most of their investments have been in Iran’s mining and industry sectors.

He then pointed to the incentives for foreign investors and said that each foreign investor can take three cars to the country and they are also awarded with 3 to 5 years of resistance permit.

He noted that currently credit risk of the country is 7 and it means Iran is among the risky countries for foreign investment but one should notice that attracting foreign investor has no direct relation with the ranking of credit risk but it is effective, reiterating that the amount of risk shows itself in the rate of insurance for the projects, adding that despite these risks there are some European and U.S. investors in the country.

Fekri went on to say that Iran has signed good agreement with Russia and Russia has not arrived here to go and both sides have side the agreement that both sides will benefit but despite the agreement, there is possibility for withdrawal of ay country from the agreements.

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Dr. Morteza Ramezani announced the news and said that this think-tank has been launched due to efforts of the chairman of the organization and in line with creating a safe climate for investment and using all trade capacities of economic activists.

He went on to say that to launch the think-tank, all economic elites and related insiders will be invited. He invited all club-owners, hoteliers, economic activists and all people who can have a share in the economic boom and investment of the zone to join the think-tank.

Ramezani noted that in line with developing trade opportunity, the legal deputy department of the organization has entered the case of City of Padideh Kish in order to remove hurdles and minimize investment risks for economic elites.

He also announced holding of several sessions in the organization, adding that the management has started reviewing and probing different cases in useful sessions to remove hurdles which have hindered investments and exploiting investments.

He reiterated that a climate should dominate in the country and society so that all people consider themselves partners in the national economy and in the progress and resistance of the country and to be proud of it.

Meanwhile CEO of the Kish Entrepreneurs and Investors Mr. Rahman Sadat Najafi pointed to the mega project of City of Padideh Kish and said that it is source of happiness and joy that the ground has been provided for encouraging Kish investors and private sector that this project is being re-launched and they as a private sector would welcome the performance of the government and judiciary in this regard.

The project of City of Padideh Kish is to be carried out in southwest of beautiful Kish Island and on a land around one million square meters. This proud Iranian project is multifunctional and it will include various sections like five-star hotel with 2,000 beds, a big international mall, conference hall, big recreational pier, water Park, garden of marine plants and a roofed amusement park. The project will create over 400 job opportunities as well as 100,000 jobs and it will create many job opportunities for the knowledge-based centers and startups.

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Investors around the world will be watching Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington on Wednesday, which comes after a tumultuous few months of political upheaval in the U.S.

Biden will succeed President Donald Trump as the 46th president of the United States shortly after noon ET. His inauguration speech will focus on the need to bring the country together on the heels of a violent riot on Capitol Hill and amid extreme partisanship in Congress.

Investors will also be on the lookout for any further information about Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan announced last week. On Tuesday, Janet Yellen, Biden’s designated nominee for Treasury Secretary, endorsed higher aid spending and urged lawmakers to “act big.”

U.S. stock futures held steady in overnight trading ahead of the inauguration. Meanwhile, stocks in major Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday as investors reacted to the release of China’s latest benchmark lending rate.

Italian investors will be watching for reaction in the stock market Wednesday after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte won a confidence vote in the upper house Senate on Tuesday, following a similar vote in the lower house of parliament on Monday. The results of the vote enable him to remain in office after a junior partner quit his coalition last week, prompting political uncertainty.

On the data front, U.K. inflation doubled in December, despite stringent coronavirus restrictions over the Christmas period. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation climbed to 0.6% in December from 0.3% in November, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Logitech shares climbed 6.3% in early trade after Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JPMorgan all raised their price targets for the Swiss-American software manufacturer’s stock.

Education group Pearson and fashion house Burberry gained 6.3% and 4.7%, respectively, as investors reacted positively to reassuring trading updates.

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