Iran free zones Archives - Iran News Daily

Annual export, re-export from Anzali free zone surpasses $188m

mahla — Mon, 10 May 2021 13:34:34 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The managing director of Anzali Free Zone Organization put the value of export and re-export from this zone at $188.7 million in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

Ali Osat Akbari said products worth $168.9 million were re-exported from the zone in the previous year, and named chemical products, wood, industrial machinery, and agricultural products as the main re-exported goods.

The official also announced that commodities valued at $209 million were produced in the zone and exported to the internal markets in the past year, and said this shows the serious determination of the producers of Anzali Free Zone to provide basic goods and essential needs of domestic consumer markets in the conditions of sanctions in the country.

He further put the worth of products produced inside the zone and exported since the start of current year at $19.8 million, and said that cellulose and chemical products, as well as industrial equipment were the major exported items.

Located in Gilan Province, north of Iran, Anzali Free Trade-Industrial Zone is the sole free zone in the southern part of the Caspian Sea with an area of 9,400 hectares and 40 kilometers shoreline.

It is one of the country’s seven free trade-industrial zones.

Located on the North-South International Corridor, having a special position in connection with the Caspian littoral states, proximity to the ports of Astrakhan and Lagan in Russia, Aktau in Kazakhstan, and Baku in Azerbaijan, access through convenient routes to the consumer markets of CIS countries, and proximity to Rasht International Airport are some advantages of Anzali Free Zone.

The establishment of free trade zones 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.

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Tax on Value Added in Free Zones “Against the Law”

reporter 1222 — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 09:34:28 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Coordination Manager of financial bodies of Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones says Majlis decision for levying tax on the value-added in the free zones is against the law and the nature of these zones, and it will kill the interest for investment in those zones and will pave the ground for a flight of capitals from the zones to the neighboring countries because all the neighboring countries grant more incentives and tax exemption for investments.

Reacting to the Majlis approval regarding tax exemption in the free zones, Elham Sakhaee said that the main advantage of investment in the free and special economic zones to the other areas is its tax exemption and the tax exemption in the zones is according to the law of the administration of the free industrial-trade zones which has been approved in 1994 and it has been levied in the special economic zones according to the law of launching and administering special economic zones which have been approved in 2006.

Sakhaee noted that Majlis’s decision is in contradiction to the laws regarding the administration of free zones. She noted that tax exemption on value-added is one of the incentives for investment and production in the free zones, adding that sudden elimination of this advantage will push the economic activists in these areas into new processes that are against the policy of easing the process of the business in those areas, and it will encourage producers to provide their required raw materials from other countries and this is also against the supportive policies from exports and hindering imports of foreign goods.

She added, by the way, it will increase the cost of production and kill the interest of investors in investing in those areas.

Sakhaee also claimed that this decision will also affect the tourism industry in those areas while according to most countries Iran can make most of its tourism industry. She further said most of the neighboring countries with fewer privileges comparing to Iran do their best for boosting their tourism industry by offering incentives to the investors in this money-making industry.

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Chabahar Becoming Iran Third Commercial Hub

reporter 1222 — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 04:08:01 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s Chabahar Port will soon become the third commercial hub of Iran due to its infrastructure, capacities, and strategic position, said the caretaker of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Trade.

According to Hussein Modarres Khiabani, Chabahar has a good opportunity for the transit of goods and exports and Tehran is firmly seeking to develop the far southeastern port to facilitate the process of its development, Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported on July 10.

Chabahar Port’s infrastructure, capacities, and strategic position have enabled it to gain equal importance to two other major Iranian commercial hubs of Bandar Abbas in Hormuzgan province and Imam Khomeini Port in Khuzestan province, south of the country, he added.

Meanwhile Director General of Chabahar Free Trade Zone Organization (FTZ) Abdul Rahim Kordi had said on July 5 that Chabahr will soon outshine the Suez Canal in providing a quicker trade link between Europe and Asia.

The strategic port of Chabahar in southeastern Iran has a special place in the country’s “looking to the East” strategy and can link India to Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Persian Gulf littoral states.

As Iran’s only ocean port on the Makran coast, Chabahar Port is not only important for India’s geopolitical interests in West Asia, but it can also play a key role in pulling landlocked Afghanistan out of its current geographical impasse and provide India with easy and inexpensive access to its new neighbors.

The Chabahar route goes through the Baltic Sea to Russia’s Saint Petersburg and then through the Volga River to Astrakhan from where it travels via the Caspian Sea to Anzali in northern Iran, Press TV reported.

It then travels further south across the lengths of the Iranian territory to Chabahar on the Sea of Oman and then through the Arabian Sea to the Nhava Sheva port in India’s Mumbai.

Speaking in a local meeting, Kordi added Chabahar will become busier once a 580-kilometer railway connecting it to Zahedan, near the eastern Iranian border, comes online.

It will be more than a half shorter than the traditional Suez route taken by large ships to deliver cargoes from Europe to Asia, he said, adding the Chabahar route will decrease the time needed from 38 days to 14-16 days.

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