Corporate News & Business

 

Iran’s Industry Minister calls for the establishment of capable export firms (Mehr News Agency, 17 April 2017)

Speaking at the first meeting of the private-sector/government dialogue council held on 17 April 2017 at Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), Industry Minister Mr. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said that the development of requirements for the establishment of strong export companies is a top priority. The minister said not all the country’s objectives in the export sector were fulfilled in the previous year because of a lack of access to specialized export tools. However, Mr. Nematzadeh stressed that free-trade zones have proven a great asset to support the country’s economic boom, facilitate production and exports. ICCIMA Head Mr. Gholamhossein Shafei said main priorities of the dialogue council needed to be identified for the year ahead suggesting that prime concerns should include improved performance in privatization, paving the path for transferring unfinished construction projects to the private sector, removing barriers to foreign investment and facilitate business atmosphere.

Annual railway freight transport reaches 40.4m tons (Tehran Times, 18 April 2017)

Some 40.4 million tons of cargos were transported via railway in Iran during the last Iranian year (21 March 2016-20 March 2017) according to board member of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR) Mr. Saeed Rasouli. He added that railway should account for 30% of freight transportation in Iran by the end of the country’s Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021).

Iran customs unveils measures to regulate garment imports (Financial Tribune, 18 April 2017)

Aiming to support domestic garment industry and prevent smuggling, Iran’s customs administration has introduced measures to systemize import procedures of foreign clothing brands. Customs post-clearance audit will now be carried out for several foreign clothing brands. refers to controls undertaken after the clearance of the goods and is designed to verify the accuracy of the data declared and confirm the proper implementation of customs and other legislation, namely the precise payment of duties, taxes and other charges. As per another measure, related authorities will prevent the installation of billboards advertising clothing trademarks or brand-names that do not have a license holder retailer in Iran. Importers are also required to record the Global Trade Item Number for branded items of clothing and their official prices as set by the parent company. According to the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange, clothes held the largest share of all the commodities smuggled into Iran during the fiscal March 2015-16 – accounting for US$ 2.36 billion or 41% of all smuggled goods.

 

Iran eyes rise in non-oil exports to neighbours (Tasnim News, 17 April 2017)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif described a growth in the country’s export of non-oil products, including technical and engineering services, as a main purpose of his tour of regional countries, which has taken him to Turkmenistan. Mr. Zarif is accompanied by delegation of business people from Iran’s private and state-run sectors. After visiting Turkmenistan, Mr. Zarif will travel to Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.

 

Iran’s SMEs under scrutiny (Financial Tribune, 18 April 2017)

Iran Chamber of Guilds (ICG) announced earlier this month that more than 200,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises were founded in the country during the last Iranian year (21 March 2016- 20 March 2017). According to ICG President Ali Fazeli, SMEs account for around 25% of all the job opportunities in Iran. SMEs generate 17.5% of Iran’s gross domestic product. More than 3 million such enterprises are active across the country in the fields of production, supply, services and technical services. The Iranian government granted more than US$ 4 billion to small- and medium-sized enterprises last year in loans to stimulate the industrial sector, which has been grappling with deep recession in the past few years. Most of the loans were given to SMEs in Mazandaran Province (987 businesses), Isfahan Province (965 businesses) and Gilan Province (768 businesses).

 

Slow growth in trade between Canada and Iran (Radio Canada, 17 April 2017)

Diplomatic ties have not been re-established between Ottawa and Tehran, but that does not prevent some Canadian companies from entering the Iranian market. Since the lifting of some of the economic sanctions by Canada in February 2016, 30 export permits have been granted to Canadian companies to do business in Iran. However, business interest for Iran is much stronger. Each week, five to seven applications are reportedly made to the federal government by Canadian entrepreneurs looking for information to break into the Iranian market. These companies are active the oil and gas, transportation, pharmacology, construction, aerospace and agriculture sectors. The Canadian Embassy in Tehran has stayed closed since 2012. The Trudeau government is committed to re-establishing diplomatic ties, but no deadline has been set by Ottawa. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce hopes that by the time an embassy reopens, Ottawa will have representatives on the ground to help develop business relations.

UK cautiously eyes $600bn opportunity in Iran investment drive (The Telegraph, 16 April 2017)

UK firms are cautiously eying opportunities in Iran ahead of an expected US$ 600bn boom in trade and infrastructure investment over the next ten years. The key infrastructure projects required includes the expansion of its 10,223km long state-owned rail network which supports industrial and commercial corridors and is expected to expand to over 25,000km by 2025, according to consultancy firm Ipsos. In addition, all 54 of Iran’s airports are expected to require significant upgrades and Iran is planning to build 7 new international airports over the next decade. The latest UK government figures indicate that from January to October 2016 the value of UK exports to Iran had continued to rise and were 42% higher than the value of exports in the same period in 2015. Iran sold its first cargoes of natural gas condensate and crude oil to British in October 2016. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said the state-backed oil giant sold a cargo of one million barrels of natural gas condensate to BP as well as a second cargo to an unnamed British company. Iran also hopes to secure large investments into its unexplored and under-developed natural gas sector. The British Iranian Chamber of Commerce (BICC) has said the main problem in increasing British Iranian trade lies in the absence of banking facilities because of the fear by European banks of American primary sanctions against Iran.

 

Finance

 

Iran private sector setting up its own guarantee fund (Financial Tribune, 18 April 2017)

The Iranian private sector is setting up its own guarantee fund to facilitate international finance for small- and medium-sized investments, said Head of Investment Commission at Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Mr. Ferial Mostofi. He added that the fund will support the “true private sector” as distinguished from the public and semi-privatized sectors that have easier access to state funding resources. The fund will support private sector initiatives in the absence of a viable sovereign guarantee fund backing ventures worth up to €50 million instead of projects costing €100-200 million. While not revealing the size of the fund, Mr. Mostofi said it will be significant enough so as not to dry up in the course of a year.

CBI to allow moneychangers to use international cards (Financial Tribune, 18 April 2017)

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is planning to allow authorized exchange shops to use international cards in daily operations [instead of cash], CBI Governor Mr. Valiollah Seif said on 17 April 2017, adding that such operations will be conducted under the central bank’s close supervision. The central bank is working to develop the infrastructure needed for connecting Iran’s payment network to international networks.

Mr. Seif noted that Iran’s banking network is more likely to be connected to Chinese, Japanese and Russian payment systems. Following the lifting of sanctions in January 2016, the CBI started talks with Japan’s JCB and China’s UnionPay. Payment authorities are aiming to link Iran’s payment ecosystem to the international card schemes, including JCB and UnionPay in the short term and Visa and MasterCard over the long term. American card providers, including MasterCard and Visa, are still restricted from working with Iranian entities. Mr. Seif also said talks are underway with Turkey and Azerbaijan.

 

CBI delegation to embark for IMF/World Bank spring meetings (Tehran Times, 18 April 2017)

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI)’s delegation will travel to the U.S. to participate in the annual spring meetings of the World Bank Group (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The meetings are to be held in Washington from 21 to 23 April 2017.

  

Economy & Society

 

$40bn in oil revenues to be deposited in Iran’s National Development Fund (Mehr News Agency, 17 April 2017)

On 16 April 2017, Iran’s President Mr. Hassan Rouhani said high bank interests proved an obstacle to investment and, before the issue is resolved, foreign finance and resources of NDFI need to be put on the agenda. He stated that despite low oil prices and economic pressures, the government will deposit US$ 40 billion dollars of oil revenues in the National Development Fund. Mr. Rouhani emphasized that the nuclear deal and subsequent removal of sanctions enabled Iran to take advantage of foreign resources, but he acknowledged that difficulties still exist.

By Natela Outtier
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