Iran to attract more foreign investments
By Sara Rajabova
Iran will attract foreign investments worth $4 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).
Head of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran Behrouz Alishiri stated that the figure shows 60 percent rise year on year.
Some $7 billion worth of foreign investment plans have been approved in the current year, he said, adding that foreign investments in Iran have grown by 150 percent during the past four years.
Earlier in September 2012, Alishiri said that foreign investment plans worth as much as $10 billion are expected to be transacted by Iran during the current Iranian calendar year.
Then he said that 50 percent of foreign investments accounted for the oil and gas sector and 20 percent for other industries, adding that 48 percent of foreign investments had been made by the Asian states and the rest came from European countries.
Besides, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that foreign investment in Iran's oil sector amounted to $20 billion so far.
The minister added that necessary funds for investment in the oil fields shared with other countries were provided from available resources, buyback deals with foreign countries and private sector firms.
Foreign investment plans in Iran amounted to $4.3 billion last year, showing a 27 percent growth compared on the year before, Alishiri added.
Iran needs up to $400 billion in direct foreign investment to materialize its objective of 8-percent economic growth, he added.
Over the next five years, the government will need new sources of capital sourced through the input of national and international private finance, Alishiri said.
Over 400 foreign companies are now directly investing in Iran despite the global economic sanctions.