BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 28
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
A number of plans have been drawn up to generate revenues worth $10 billion in the field of logistics in Iran's free trade and special economic zones, Adviser to the Iranian President and Secretary of the Supreme Council of Free Trade Zones of Iran Hamidreza Momeni said, Trend reports citing the council’s information portal.
Momeni said that logistics in Iran's free trade and special economic zones and their positive impact on the Iranian economy are very important.
“For example, 1 billion tons of cargo are transited annually through the International Suez Canal. Each ton of cargo is transited through Iran for $200. If 5 percent of the cargo enter Iran through the Free Trade Zones, employment in the zones will increase and the country will have a large source of revenue,” the secretary added.
As reported, a total of 120 trillion rials (about $2.85 billion) worth of investments have been made in Iran's free trade zones during the current government of Iran (which has been in power since 2013). About 98 percent of these investments belong to the private sector and have been made in eight free trade zones in Iran.
In total, 512,000 people are currently employed in Iran's free trade zones.
About 2.74 million tons of goods were transited through Iran during the first three months of the current Iranian year (from March 21 through June 21, 2021). This is an increase of 121 percent, compared to the same period last Iranian year.
Also, $854 million worth of goods were exported from Iran's free trade zones over the last Iranian year (from March 20, 2020 through March 20, 2021).