Azerbaijan, Baku, May 15/Trend M. Moezzi
A Chinese company is partnering with the Industrial Development and Renovation Organisation of Iran (IDRO) and the privately owned Bahman Group to invest $500 million (USD) in automobile design.
To support domestic production, the Chinese group's investment will only target design, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reports IDRO's Majid Hedayat saying.
Last year (Iran's solar year ended on March 19), IDRO managed two investment deals with foreign companies. In one project, an Italian company is cooperating on building pistons while the second involves a Turkish company's 20 per cent investment to produce fabric.
This year, IDRO signed a contract with a foreign company to build a fibre optic line. That project will need tens of millions of dollars in investments.
IDRO was originally established in 1967 to help accelerate Iran's modernisation. It has become one of the country's biggest companies. The domestic car manufacturer, Iran Khodro, is one of IDRO's subsidiaries.