Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced that the country has been able to attract $7bln of foreign investment during the current Iranian year (March 2012- March 2013), Fars News reported.
Addressing a ceremony to inaugurate an economic project in Iran's Southeastern province of Kerman, Mohammad Najjar said Iran attracted $5bln of foreign investment last (Iranian) year (ended on March 19).
The figure for the current Iranian year (ends on March 20) is $7bln, he announced, adding that the figure shows 40 percent increase compared with last year.
The minister further downplayed the impacts of sanctions against Tehran, saying that Iranians will change pressures and embargos into opportunities.
In similar remarks in September 2012, Iran's Deputy Economy Minister Behrouz Alishiri announced that Western sanctions against Iran are ineffective as the volume of foreign investment in the country has witnessed an eye-catching growth.
He also said that 50% of foreign investments has been made in the oil and gas sector and 20% in other industries, adding that 48% of foreign investments has been made by Asian states and the remaining came from the European countries.