Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 24
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Twenty seven foreign investors have bought shares in the Iranian capital market over the past 2 months.
Hamed Soltaninejad, managing director of Iran's central securities and investment company, said that investors from Germany, the UK, Syria, China, and Afghanistan have joined Iran's capital market shareholders, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on Jan. 24.
To date, 97 foreign investors from the UK, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, China, India, Turkey, Lebanon, South Africa, the UAE, Norway, Greece, Indonesia, Maldives, Hong Kong, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, and Afghanistan have joined Iran's capital market shareholders, he added.
Director General for foreign investment office of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI) Abolfazl Koudeie said in Nov. that presence of foreign investors in Iran is growing.
He added that presence of the foreign investors' delegations in Iran has increased eight times more than the previous years.
Foreign direct investment in Iran (FDI) has been hindered by international sanctions, although the Iranian government had liberalized investment regulations in early 2000s.
Foreign investors have concentrated their activities on a few Iranian economic sectors including oil and gas industries, vehicle manufacturing, copper mining, petrochemicals, food, and pharmaceuticals.
The value of foreign investment in Iran during the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2014) reached $16 billion showing more than 100 percent growth compared to the previous year, which was $7.5 billion.
Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia has said that potential trading partners can rest easy about the investment environment in Iran despite sanctions pressure.
Some of Iran's trading partners have shied away from doing business with the Islamic republic because of sanctions.
There should be no apprehension about trading with Iran, he stressed.
"Iran is among the safest countries for (foreign) investment," he said.