Industries Ministry: Iran welcomes foreign investment in mining sector

Iran has paved the way for attracting more investments in its mining and mineral industries, a senior energy official said on Tuesday, calling on domestic and foreign investors to seize the current opportunities to expand their partnership in the lucrative sector.

“Today (Iranian) President (Hassan) Rouhani’s government welcomes foreign investment and partnership of companies in the mining and mineral industries sector of Iran,” Iranian Deputy Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade Mehdi Karbasian said, addressing the opening ceremony of the Third Conference and Exhibition on Investment Opportunities in Iran’s Mining and Mineral Industries.

He noted that forecasts indicate a boom in the world’s economy in 2015, which in turn would increase the need to minerals in the international markets, “hence such conditions can positively influence Iran’s economy”.

Karbasian called on Iran’s private sector to play a more active role in the development of the country’s mining sector, and said, “The private sector will enjoy the government’s support accordingly.”

In April, a senior economic official announced that the value of foreign investment in Iran has witnessed a remarkable growth of 100 percent in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2014).

“The value of foreign investment in Iran last year reached $16bln which shows more than 100 percent of growth as compared with the year before that, which was $7.5bln,” Iranian Deputy Economy Minister Behrouz Alishiri told reporters.

The Iranian deputy economy minister pointed to the influence of the Geneva agreement between Iran and the six world powers in November, and said, “We have held talks with trade delegations from France, Italy and China in Tehran, which shows their interest and eagerness for presence and investment in Iran.”

He underlined that about 800 foreign investors have entered Iran in recent months.

Alishiri pointed to the willingness of foreign investors to return to the Iranian market, and said, “The negative effects on (the economies of) the countries that have imposed sanctions on Iran have been much greater than Iran and we have learnt big lessons from the sanctions, including quitting oil-dependent economy as has been required by the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-2015).”

He referred to the programs of the Iranian Investment Organization for attracting further foreign investment in the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2014), and said, “Dispatching economic attaches to target countries to persuade and enhance attraction of foreign investment, paving the way for the visit of World Bank experts to Iran, holding joint economic commission with China … are among the organization’s measures.”