Iran plans to attract $30 billion in expat investment
By Sara Rajabova
Iranian government intends to attract some $30 billion worth investment from overseas Iranians.
Abolhassan Firouzabadi, the Iranian Deputy Minister of Labor, Cooperative, and Social Welfare said the investment is planned to fund economic projects across the country, Mehr news agency reported.
He added that the plan is under investigation by the ministry’s experts, adding that there are large sums of money owned by Iranians leaving abroad.
After taking office, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani invited Iranian businessmen and investors who live abroad to start investing in Iran’s economy and stock exchange as to reinvigorate Iran’s economy.
Firouzabadi went on to say that if the government can meet their trust and create the necessary incentives, then it can begin to return crucial financial resources to the country and attract people to carry out big economic projects in Iran.
“The region’s future perspective shows that war in regional countries, especially in Iraq and Syria, will soon be over and these countries will need reconstruction. We can tap into the capabilities of Iranian investors to carry out these projects,” Firouzabadi said.
Mohsen Jalalpour, the deputy chairman of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture have recently said since the beginning of the Rouhani administration in mid-2013, overseas Iranians had invested $120 billion in projects inside the country.
He noted that during the period Iranian investors chose 60 Iranian companies among their top 10 companies to invest in.
Over 12,500 Iranians who live overseas and are members of the Iranian Expatriates Investment Company have earlier expressed their readiness to take part in Iran’s large-scale investment projects.
Although there are still some problems that can create obstacles for expat investments in the country, the government remains committed to attract investments from the expat community, especially, at a time when Iran’s relations with the world are in a path of improvement. Following the reduction of pressure on Iran, investing in the Islamic Republic is looking more and more inciting indeed.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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