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Iran offers incentives to attract foreign investment

Iran Materials 18 February 2012 13:26 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 18/ Trend F.Milad /

Iran started offering incentives aimed to attract foreign investment, head of Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, Behrouz Alishiri, said.

He told IRNA news agency that the country has received some 10 proposals, worth around $300 million, from foreign entities to invest in the country.

By the end of the current calendar year (March 19), incentives will be offered to 20 foreign investment plans, he forecasted.

Iran has approved $5 to $6 billion in foreign direct investment plans for the current calendar year, ending March 20, Alishiri said on February 3.

He told ISNA news agency that in 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 is ranked 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.

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