Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29
By Gazenfer Hamidov – Trend:
A Swedish company will invest in establishing an online store of audio books in Iran.
Iran has approved a proposal by Sweden for investment in creating the store in Tehran, according to a report released by the country’s ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.
The project worth $573,000 will be implemented in a partnership with Iran’s Negar Asre-no, which currently operates a website of audio books.
Iran's Foreign Investment Board has approved the Swedish firm’s investment proposal in February, the industry ministry said without unveiling the company’s name.
According to the report, the Iranian administration authorized a $2.8 billion in foreign direct investment during the first 11 months of the last fiscal year (ended March 20), which is 44 percent less compared to $5 billion worth of projects approved by the administration in the same period of the preceding year.
According to the industry ministry’s report, over 66 investment proposals were approved by Iran's Foreign Investment Board in the 11-month period, compared to 60 proposals in the first 11 months of the preceding fiscal year.
Germany stood at the top of the list of approved investment projects with $720.87 million for construction of a photovoltaic panel production plant.
During the mentioned period, statistics from the Iranian government put the Irish investors in second place with $466.155 million worth of investments for a mining extraction and exploitation project, followed by China with a $232.551 million.
The next place also belongs to Germany with a project for construction of two air separation units in Chabahar Free Trade–Industrial Zone (CFZ), south eastern Iran. The project, worth $165.8 million was authorized in October 2017.
Dutch investors also are at the top place with $102.056 million of investment in an online trade project. The Iranian partner of the Dutch side is Digikala, the biggest e-commerce startup in Iran.
Proposals submitted by investors from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Austria, Italy, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Switzerland, France, the UAE, South Korea, Iraq and Cayman Islands have also been accepted as authorized projects.
According to the Iranian ministry, over 71 investment proposals (worth $5.06 billion) were approved by Iran's Foreign Investment Board in the fiscal year to March 20, 2017.
The value was $6.7 billion for the preceding fiscal year (ended March 2016), registering a big growth compared to $915 million in 2015, when the international sanctions against Iran were in place.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) statistics indicate that Iran attracted $3.372 billion foreign direct investment in 2016, compared to $2.05 billion in 2015.