Azerbaijan, Baku, July 23/ Trend M. Moezzi
Deputy Economic Minister, Behrouz Alishiri, accused Iran's media of ruining the government's plan to attract foreign investments in Iran.
Alishiri said that media reports about Qatari companies' investments in Iran's agricultural lands. This ruined all the effort put into drawing foreign capital to the country, the Fars news agency reports.
The 1933 law on land ownership forbids foreign citizens from owning land in Iran. When a foreign company is registered in Iran, it gains the same rights as a real person covered under Iranian law.
As foreign investors, these companies can own movable and immovable assets including land and its foreign investors can own shares in that company.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) data shows that one percent of $4.15 billion in foreign investments made in Iran last year falls to agriculture.
Alishiri, who heads the Iranian Organization for Investment Economic and Technical Assistance (OIETAI), said that Qatar asked Iran, Australia and Malaysia to let it rent land for securing its food supply.
When asked about job creation for Iranians, Alishiri said investors who spend $100 million in the country would have 95 percent of Iranian workforce.