According to the words of an Iranian top economic official, the Islamic Republic could attract $6.7bln foreign investment during the 2023 expo event held in Tehran back in May.
This Thursday,the top economic official from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mehdi Safari said that during the Iran EXPO 2023 event that was held on May 7-10 this year, Iran could leave a new record and attracted $6.7bln foreign investment in three single days.
Noting that Iran has the ambition of weeing its economy off its dependence on oil and diversifying its revenues, Safari said that one of the first step in this path is to expand the transportation infrastructure in the country to significantly increase its cargo transit revenues.
Speaking with Iran’s Press TV, the Iranian official also asserted that Iran has set out to increase the volume of cargo transit via the country to 90 million metric tons per year. This volume, Safari explained, would include nearly 60 million metric tons in East-West transit that could generate up to $100 billion in transit fees for Iran each year.
Speaking of other transit routes that have the potential to increase Iran’s transit revenues, the Iranian diplomat also said that the Islamic Republic has been trying to expand its fleet operating in shipping routes in the Caspian Sea to help increase the flow of cargo on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as well, a strategic route that passes through the Iranian territory.
Iran Expo 2023 (the 5th export potential exhibition of the Islamic Republic of Iran) was held from May 7th to 10th, 2023, in Tehran. This international event aimed to put the Iranian businesses and manufacturers’ export potential to show, and at the same time, it was a good chance for non-Iranian businesses to find chances of importing, business partners, potential investors, Iranian suppliers, and be familiar with the latest developments and newest strategies of exports in Iran.
Last but not least, Safari said that under the current administration, Iran is focused on better trade ties with the country’s neighbors, but it is also seeking to boost trade with countries in Africa, Latin America, and East Asia.
UN figures also show an increase in Iran’s foreign direct investment
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) noted in its latest report on this Sunday that Iran’s attraction of foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had a good increase of more than 5 percent in 2022.
“Iran has attracted the most foreign capital in the Middle East region after Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain,” the report said, adding that “Iran could attract $1.5 billion worth of foreign investment within the framework of Foreign Direct Investment in 2022”.
The figure for last year, as the report noted, was 1.425 billion in FDI for Iran, which compared to 2022, showed a more than $75 million increase. “Iran also had $100 million of Foreign Direct Investment in 2022 in other countries, the rate of which stood at $82 million in 2021,” the UN report also noted.
Since the Trump administration pulled out the US out of the Iran’s nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Washington and its Western allies have re-imposed heavy and crippling economic sanctions on Tehran.
Iran, however, has been able to defy the sanctions quite well by following the policy of making stronger ties with Russia, China, its neighboring countries, and countries in the African continent.
