Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 6
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: The Iranian administration will support the private sector's investment in the shipping industry, the Tasnim News Agency quoted Iranian First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri as saying.
There are many fields of activity in the industry such as the expansion of ports, oil and gas platforms and fishery operations, he added.
The private sector should play a key role in the development of the shipping industry he said, adding that assets of the National Development Fund should be invested properly in different industries, including shipping.
Governments in Europe and the United States had targeted hundreds of Iranian companies such as the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), accusing them of aiding Tehran's nuclear programme which they suspect has covert military aims which they want curbed.
However Europe's second-highest General Court has argued in some cases, including the one related to IRISL, that the EU failed to provide sufficient evidence linking the companies to Iran's nuclear work to justify sanctions and ordered them lifted.
In January, Managing Director of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation, Seyyed Ata'ollah Sadr, said that Iran invested some $400 million in the country's ports' development projects in the calendar year (1391, ending March 20th, 2013), IRNA reported.