Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.30/ Trend F.Milad /
Three international companies have declared their readiness to invest in Iran's housing sector, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Behrouz Alishiri said on Wednesday.
The housing sector is a profitable market in Iran, so sanctions against the country cannot prevent foreign firms from investing, the ISNA News Agency quoted Alishiri as saying.
Alishiri said on January 19 that foreign depositors have invested some 1.2 billion dollars in Iran's housing sector.
Special plans have been developed to boost foreign investment in the country's housing sector, he said.
Alishiri, is also the head of the Organisation for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran and went on to say that the plans are aimed at reducing the costs of house building in Iran.
He had said in July 2012 that foreign investment plans worth as much as $10 billion are expected to be transacted by Iran in different fields during the current Iranian calendar year, which ends March 19, a 100 per cent growth year on year.
Foreign investment plans in Iran amounted to $5.3 billion last year showing a 27 per cent growth compared on the year before.
According to Alishiri, Iran needs up to $400 billion in direct foreign investment to materialise its objective of an eight per cent economic growth.
Over the next five years, the government will need new sources of capital sourced through the input of national and international private finance, he said.
He said previously that the growth of direct foreign investment in Iran ranks amongst the highest in the world.
Despite global economic sanctions, more than 400 foreign companies are now directly investing in Iran.