Corporate News & Business

 

Foreign investment in Iran hits $12b annually (Tehran Times, 14 April 2017)

Iran attracted US$ 12 billion in foreign investment during the past Iranian year (21 March 2016-20 March 2017), said Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mr. Ali Tayyebnia. The minister said that the country could manage to attract the mentioned volume of investment as a result of proper measures taken by the government and also the positive environment created in post-sanctions era. He emphasized that sustained and stable economic growth is a priority for the country. Iran has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) aiming to attract US$ 50 billion of finance with other countries since implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in January 2016, according to Mr. Tayyebnia, who said preliminary measures have been taken to finalise the MoUs.

 

British ADS to provide IWCF classes for NIDC (Mehr News Agency, 13 April 2017)

The National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) has signed a deal with Aberdeen Drilling School (ADS) to receive International Well Control Forum (IWCF) training courses for its staff. ADS courses had so far provided 8 training courses in well control according to standards of IWCF since October 2016. The 5-year deal and courses will award certificates of well control; ADS will provide the software, course teachers, and training material and NIDC will provide physical classes and facilities.

Gold, iron, molybdenum veins discovered in Qizil Uzan (Financial Tribune, 16 April 2017)

New gold, iron ore and molybdenum veins have been discovered in Qizil Uzan mineral zone located in the northwestern Ardebil Province, Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO) official Mr. Alireza Jafari-Rad announced. Preliminary explorations at the zone have been concluded and IMIDRO is set to start underground operations. The zones’ deposits are to be determined by the end of September 2017.

Kerman exports at record high (Financial Tribune, 16 April 2017)

A record high of more than US$ 1.1 billion worth of goods were exported from Kerman Province in the last Iranian year (21 March 2016-20 March 2017) has said Head of Kerman Industries, Mining and Trade Organisation Mr. Mehdi Hosseininejad. Located in southeast Iran, Kerman is the second-largest province of the country. It is Iran’s main pistachio production hub, accounting for more than 70% of all the pistachios grown in the country.

 

Iran exports $84mn Persian carpet to US (Mehr News Agency, 15 April 2017)

Industry Minister Mr. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said Iran’s exports of hand-woven carpets to the US was US$ 84mn in the previous Iranian year (21 March 2016-20 March 2017), indicating a significant growth compared to the figure for the year before which only stood at US$ 2.7mn. Head of Iran National Carpet Center Mr. Hamid Karegar said US$ 350 million of Iranian hand-woven carpets were deployed to various countries. America, Germany, Lebanon, UAE, Pakistan, Japan, Britain, Qatar, South Africa and Australia were the top ten costumers of Persian carpet in the previous year with the American taking the lead in imports of the product from Iran.

German companies GHM and Iba active in Iran (Allgemeine Bäcker Zeitung, 15 April 2017)

The German Trade Fair for Handicrafts (GHM) in Munich has signed a cooperation agreement with the trade fair iran food + bev tec (Teheran). It is the leading trade fair for food technology in Iran. The goal is to support exhibitors to open up new markets.

Iran Air secures final contract for purchase of 20 turboprops with ATR (Tehran Times, 15 April 2017)

Iran’s national flag carrier, Iran Air, signed a final contact with French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR for purchasing 20 turboprop passenger planes on 13 April 2017. Four of the accorded 70-seat ATRs will be delivered to Iran within a month and five ones of them will be received by 2017 yearend, Managing Director of Iran Air Mr. Farhad Parvaresh said, the rest will arrive by the end of 2018.

 

Finance

 

Sweden incorporates Iran investment firm using only bitcoin (Coindesk.com, 12 April 2017)

The Swedish government has allowed a blockchain startup to use a bitcoin account – as opposed to a traditional bank account – as a way to prove its liquidity and incorporate domestically with the Swedish Companies Registration Office, called Bolagsverket. While the founders of Linköping-based Brave New World Investments initially took their idea of creating an investment vehicle for companies traded on the Tehran Stock Exchange to the six largest banks in Sweden, each, they said, refused the idea. The Bolagsverket registrar in charge of the case eventually helped the company incorporate without a bank account. Now that the company has been incorporated with a bitcoin account, Brave New World Investments co-founder Mikael Johansson said he is waiting for the final approval to open a bank account in Iran. Then, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be used to send funds to Iran, where they will be converted to the native rial and used to invest in publicly traded companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE).

 

Corporate governance bylaw for insurance industry (Financial Tribune, 16 April 2017)

President of Central Insurance of Iran (CII) Mr. Aboldnasser Hemmati announced that a new bylaw on corporate governance in Iranian insurance companies has been devised and will be implemented soon. Speaking at the 10th International Exhibition of Exchange, Bank and Insurance, he said Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers has had tangible results for the insurance sector, adding that all European insurance entities he had met had expressed readiness to invest in the Iranian insurance sector in the next two to three months. According to the new law, foreigners can purchase up to 49% of shares in Iranian insurance companies. Stressing that the role of the capital market and insurance market must be empowered, Mr. Hemmati said measures undertaken in the current administration have led to the penetration rate of the insurance rising above 2% for the first time.

 

Iranian, Pakistani central banks sign cooperation agreement (Mehr News Agency, 15 April 2017)

On 14 April 2017, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Central Bank of Iran (CBI) officials inked and agreement in Tehran to facilitate banking cooperation between the two sides within the framework of a Bilateral Payment Arrangement (BPA). The BPA seeks to provide a trade settlement mechanism to promote trade turnover between Tehran and Islamabad. The mechanism will be used for payment of trade conducted via letter of credit (L/C) and in accordance with international laws and regulations. Inactive banking channels between the two countries mark one of the main reasons for the low volume of trade between Iran and Pakistan – currently standing at US$ 1billion.

Over US$ 419m of state-owned shares to be divested in a week (Tehran Times, 15 April 2017)

Iran’s Privatization Organization (IPO) will transfer over US$ 419 million worth of state-run shares to the private sector from 17-23 April 2017. The shares to be offered in this week belong to five state-run companies. The Iranian government envisioned a large privatization program in the Fifth Five-Year National Development Plan (2010-2015), aiming to privatize about 20% of the state-owned firms each year.

 

Iran’s Finex 2017 kicks off (Mehr News Agency, 15 April 2017)

The 10th Iran Exhibition of Bank, Exchange & Insurance Exhibition (Finex 2017) – the biggest financial event in the region – opened in Tehran on 15 April 2017 with a number of European and Asian countries attending the event. This year’s edition of the event is attended by 142 companies providing financial services, 38 investment and financial services companies, 15 insurance companies, 10 banks and credit institutions and 16 agencies. The exhibition will be held to introduce domestic and foreign financial institutions’ capabilities, and aims to enhancing international interaction of Iran’s financial industry.

Oil & Gas

 

South Pars deal with Total to be finalised within days (Tehran Times, 15 April 2017)

NIOC Managing Director Mr. Ali Kardor said on 15 April 2017 that the agreement with France’s Total on the development of South Pars gas field’s phase 11 is to be finalized by 20 April 2017. He added that he French company has already allocated US$ 15 million to this project in accordance with the first phase of the contract. The South Pars phase 11 project aims to produce 1.8 billion cubic feet a day of gas, equivalent to 370,000 barrels of oil. The produced gas will be fed into Iran’s gas network.

 

South Korea’s Iran oil imports soar to record high (Press TV, 15 April 2017)

South Korea’s purchases of Iranian crude oil rose to record high in March and nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2017 from the previous year. According to customs data released in Seoul on15 April 2017, Iran ranked second as South Korea’s biggest oil exporter in the first quarter of 2017, up three places compared to 2016. South Korea imported in 534,368 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude in March 2017, data from Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) showed. That was up 118.8% from a year ago, and 38.3% in February 2017. South Korea’s crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia also fell 10% to 10.44 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year, or 850,614 bpd, from 11.61 million tonnes in the previous quarter, but that was 5.7% higher on year.

 

Economy & Society

 

Iran’s Economy Minister calls for rise in non-oil exports (Mehr News Agency, 15 April 2017)

Speaking on the sideline of the 10th Iran Exhibition of Bank, Exchange & Insurance Exhibition (Finex 2017), Iranian Economy Minister Mr. Ali Tayebnia said that by relying on valuable social capital, the incumbent government managed to increase rate of economic growth from -6.8 to +8.0 as well as to reduce inflation rate from 40% to a single-digit figure. He added that the government were not limited to main macroeconomic indices; rather the government has also launched a set of long-term efforts to reform economic structures of the country which have become aligned with policies of Resistance Economy issued by the Leader. Mr. Tayebnia emphasized that  non-oil production and employment need to be boosted in the new year since they play a crucial role in achieving high economic growth.

By Natela Outtier

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