Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar.30/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Foreign investment in Iran increased in the past Iranian calendar year, the Fars News Agency quoted Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran official Qader Soleimani as saying.
The highest amount of foreign investment was made in the mining sector, he noted. Meanwhile the least amount of investment was made in the agriculture sector, he added. Over $7 billion worth of foreign investment plans were approved, showing a 46-percent rise year on year.
On March 8, ISNA quoted the head of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran Behrouz Alishiri as saying that foreign investments in Iran have grown by 150 percent during the past four years.
Meanwhile, in September 2012, Alishiri said that foreign investment plans in Iran amounted to $4.3 billion last year, showing a 27-percent growth compared on the year before.
Iran needs up to $400 billion in direct foreign investment to materialize its objective of 8 percent economic growth, he added.
Over the next five years, the government will need new sources of capital sourced through the input of national and international private finance, Alishiri said.
He said in October 2011 that the growth of direct foreign investment in Iran ranks amongst the highest in the world.
Despite the global economic sanctions, more than 400 foreign companies are now directly investing in Iran.