Foreign investment in Iran tops $485 mln in 5 months to August: Report

A report shows foreign investment in Iran reached a total of $485 million in the five months to late August as manufacturing and mining sectors accounted for a bulk of funds attracted into the country over the period.

The Saturday report by the official IRNA news agency said that Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mine & Trade (MIMT) had issued permits for 49 foreign investment schemes worth $388 million in the five-month period to August 22.

The report said foreign investment in the manufacturing, metals and mining projects had accounted for 80% of total foreign investment in Iran over the period.

It said MIMT had authorized 19 projects with full foreign investment, 21 joint ventures and nine build–operate–transfer projects that involved foreign investors between March and August.

Major areas of investments for foreigners in Iran over the period included manufacturing of electronic appliances as well as chemicals and metals production.

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MIMT figures also showed that investors from the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Germany had the largest share of investments in the Iranian projects over the five-month period.

Top investment locations for foreigners were the Iranian provinces of Kerman, Markazi, Tehran, East Azerbaijan and Alborz, said the report.

Iran has seen lower levels of direct foreign investment since the United States pulled out of a major international nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and imposed its sanctions on the country.

However, investment has continued to flow into Iran despite difficulties facing the foreigners in transferring funds and settling payments because of the US bans.

Increased investment in Iran’s manufacturing sectors comes as Iran has encouraged more activity in the sector to both cut back on its massive imports and to create more jobs for the country’s youth.

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