Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 3 / Trend F.Milad/
Iran has approved $5-6 billion in foreign direct investment plans for the current calendar year, ending on March 20, deputy finance and economic affairs minister Behrouz Alishiri stated.
Behrouz Alishiri told ISNA news agency that during the year to March 20, 2010 and the year after, almost $3 billion and $3.7 billion were attracted as foreign direct investment, respectively.
Iran needs up to $300 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to meet objectives of its fifth five-year development plan (2010-2015), and reach 8 percent economic growth rate, Alishiri told ILNA news agency in October 2011.
"Totally, the country needs around $1 trillion investment by the end of the fifth development plan," he said, adding, some $15 billion in foreign direct investments was attracted last (calendar) year.
In terms of the growth of foreign direct investment, Iran ranks among the world's top countries. Despite the global economic sanctions, more than 400 foreign companies are now directly investing in Iran in different sectors, he added.
The Iranian government has approved more than 100 foreign investment plans worth $5.3 billion in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which ended on October 22.
According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) statistics, Iran attracted $3.6 billion foreign direct investment in 2010.