Foreign Investment Sees Tenfold Rise Post JCPOA

Foreign investment in Iran has seen a tenfold increase following the 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers, the government spokesman said.

Addressing a news conference late on Saturday, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said over $13 billion of foreign investment were made in Iran last year (March 2016-17), IRNA reported.

Director General of Industries Ministry’s Foreign Investment Office Afrouz Bahrami said Iran attracted $24.95 billion in foreign investments during Sept. 2013-17, adding that the figure accounts for less than 2% of all FDI made worldwide during the period.

Germany, China, Turkey, Austria, the UAE and France were the biggest investors in Iran during the four-year period.

The most attractive industries for foreign investors in Iran were polymer and chemicals, steel, trade, motor vehicles, mining, plastic and medical devices.

Alborz, Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Fars, West Azarbaijan, Kerman, Zanjan and Qazvin were the most attractive Iranian provinces for foreign investments during the period.

As per the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22), the government needs to attract at least $50 billion annually in foreign investment (direct, finance or joint investment) plus 5,800 trillion rials ($145 billion) in domestic investment to achieve an 8% economic growth.

According to Nobakht, domestic investment has seen a 7% rise under the government of President Hassan Rouhani.

source: Financial Tribune