Corporate News & Business

 

Saffron exported to 47 countries (Financial Tribune, 19 April 2017)

More than 172 tons of saffron worth US2 46.7 million were exported to 47 countries, including the US, in the last Iranian year (21 March 2016-20 March 2017), said President of Iran’s National Saffron Center Mr. Gholamreza Miri. The figure shows an over 32.3% rise in weight compared to the previous year. It is estimated that during the current year, exports will rise by 20%. Iran is the world’s biggest saffron producer and accounts for more than 90% of the global production. Close to 95% of Iranian saffron are grown in the two provinces of South Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi in northeastern Iran.

Slovenian firm wins €36m contracts in Iran (Financial Tribune, 19 April 2017)

Slovenian telecommunications equipment manufacturer Iskratel has won contracts worth €36 million in Iran. The manufacturer has signed two contracts with the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), according to which Iskratel will provide broadband access to users in seven Iranian provinces as part of a modernization of access networks, mostly with GPON optical technology. It will also supply the national operator with terminal equipment and software.

 

Iran, Finland sign agreement on customs cooperation (Mehr News Agency, 19 April 2017)

Head of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Customs Administration (IRICA) Mr. Masoud Karbasian and Director General of Finnish Customs Mr. Antti Hartikainen signed Tuesday an agreement on customs cooperation in Helsinki. The agreement is the first one to be signed with a European country since the implementation of JCPOA in Rouhani’s government. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran and Finland’s Customs will cooperate on customs regulations, value of goods, commodity classification, enforcement of rules, transportation regulations, as well as countering narcotics, psychotropic drugs and industrial and traditional precursors industries.

 

Iran, Pakistan sign MoU on economic cooperation (Mehr News Agency, 19 April 2017)

The 20th session of Iran-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission that took place 17-18 April 2017 in Tehran concluded with a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation signed between the two sides. he Iranian side was chaired by Interior Minister Mr. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and the Pakistani side was headed by Minister for States and Frontier Regions Mr. Abdul Quadir Baloch. The session aimed at following up on the implementation of agreements reached during the 19th session held in Islamabad in December 2014, and to increase trade and commercial transactions up to US$ 5 billion per year. After signing an MoU on expansion of economic cooperation, Mr. Rahmani Fazli voiced satisfaction over reaching agreements in various fields of economy, trade, industry, energy, communications, and security issues. Recently, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) signed an agreement with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) for banking and payment mechanisms cooperation. The mechanism will be used for payment of trade conducted via letter of credit (L/C).

Panasonic pushes for Iran sales (Financial Tribune, 19 April 2017)

Japan’s technology firm Panasonic, has announced the appointment of its new Managing Director for the Middle East region, Mr. Hiroki Soejima. The new director said the firm’s new push is to grow sales in Iran and Pakistan. Iran contributes to almost 16% of Panasonic’s total Middle East revenue. Panasonic remains the biggest supplier of office telephone systems in Iran. Japanese business has slowly increased their presence in Iran since sanctions, as South Korean firms like LG and Samsung have aggressively increased their market share in Iran over the past decade. In terms of home electronic devices, Samsung and LG are now leaders in foreign brand devices in the country.

Iran, Russia ink MOU on fishery cooperation (Tehran Times, 18 April 2017)

Iran and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fishery sector on 17 March 2017. ran and Russia are to cooperate with each other for trade and research in the fishery sector and given the large market of Russia, the ground will be prepared for boosting fish export to the neighbouring country.

 

As of May 2017, Iran Air to fly to Europe with A330 (Aerotelegraph, 18 April 2017)
In March 2017, Iran Air received its first two new Airbus A330s. So far, the jets still fly exclusively on domestic routes. After a few weeks of training in Iran, Iran Air’s new Airbus jets will be launched on international routes in May 2017. The first flights will head to Europe. From 1 May 2017, Iran Air will fly from Tehran to Gothenburg with the A330-200. From 2 May 2017 onwards, it will be in Paris Orly and from 3 May 2017 to Stockholm. At the end of May 2017 Iran Air plans to fly to the Far East with the A330 – resuming flights to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur with the new flyers.

Iran-Russia trade volume to grow further in 2017 (Mehr News Agency, 18 April 2017)

Iran-Russia trade volume has surged by 70% after the removal of sanctions against the country early last year, said honorary representative of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Iran Mr. Alexander Maksimov. Last year’s bilateral trade was worth US$ 2.2 billion, most of which was comprised of Russian exports of machinery, equipment, transport, food and metals. Iranian food exports to Russia made up just US$ 0.3 billion of the trade balance. In January 2017, Russian exports to Iran of machinery increased by 7% and high-technology goods by 3.7% in comparison with the previous year.

Tehran, Tbilisi mull over expanding multilateral ties (Mehr News Agency, 18 April 2017)

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mohammad Mr. Javad Zarif arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on 17 April 2017 to discuss how to reinvigorate Iranian-Georgian relations. Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mr. Mikheil Janelidze said that in 2016, the volume of trade turnover between the two sides grew by 50%, adding that the upward trend continues. He emphasized that transit collaborations hold great significance as Iran could exploit Georgia’s potentials en route to Europe. Mr. Mikheil Janelidze further stated that various dimensions of transport cooperation were being pursued and a rail transport corridor had been defined in order to carry goods from Central Asia to Iran, Georgia and Europe. Mr. Zarif called for cooperation in judicial, academic, transit pathway, banking fields as well as joint ventures, establishment of industrial estates and energy and gas cooperation between the two countries.

Exports of handicrafts up by 60% in post-JCPOA (Mehr News Agency, 18 April 2017)

Deputy Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation (ICHHTO) Mr. Bahman Namvar Motlagh said that export of handicrafts had risen by 60% since implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in January 2016.

Over 200 foreign companies to attend Project Iran 2017 exhibition (Tehran Times, 18 April 2017)

Over 200 foreign companies from 23 countries will attend the 3rd International Trade Exhibition for Construction Materials, Equipment and Technology of Iran (Project Iran 2017) which will be held in Tehran on 24-27 April 2017. The exhibition seeks to connect international expertise to the Iranian market, and contribute in shaping the tremendous potential of the country’s promising construction sector. Project Iran 2017 will be solely hosting foreign companies and no domestic exhibitors will participate in the event.

 

 

Finance

Iran government launches economic databank (Financial Tribune, 19 April 2017)

The Financial-Economic Databank and Iran’s Economic Data Monitoring websites were launched on 17 April 2017. The bank’s data can be updated on a periodic, seasonal or daily basis, and contain information on all the provinces as well as international and exclusive content of the Finance Ministry, said Deputy Economy Minister Mr. Hussein Mirshojaeian. The databank website will be linked with the World Bank data center and only senior managers will have access to certain parts of it as it contains confidential material.

 

 

Oil & Gas

 

Talks underway with Maersk over SPOL (Mehr News Agency, 19 April 2017)

Iran’s Oil Minister Mr. Bijan Zanganeh said negotiations with the Danish business conglomerate, Maersk Group, were being pursued over development of South Pars Oil Layer (SPOL). He noted that Pars Oil and Gas Company Ltd. has been chosen as the contractor of the project. SPOL was supposed to yield 35,000 oil barrels per day on a regular basis though the output figure currently stands at 25,000 barrels and will hopefully reach the envisaged level by the end of current year. Until a year ago, Maersk Group was in charge of development and production in the Qatari side of South Pars Oil Layer and it had managed to recover one billion barrels. Maersk then lost the Qatar contract to France’s Total.

 

South Pars daily output to reach 630mcm by March 2018 (Tehran Times, 18 April 2017)

Daily production in Iran’s South Pars gas field will reach 630 million cubic meters (mcm) by the end of current Iranian calendar year (20 March 2017- 20 March 2018) said Oil Minister Mr. Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on 17 April 2017. The minister said the production of gas in South Pars is one of the priorities of the Oil Ministry in the current year. On 16 April 2017, President Mr. Hassan Rouhani inaugurated five development phases of the field, namely 17-21, which will add 150 mcm to the field’s current daily gas output of about 570 mcm to push Iran’s gas extraction from the joint field up to equate that of Qatar. Some US 71 billion has been already invested for development of South Pars, of which US$ 19 billion has been secured from the internal sources of Oil Ministry and the rest US$ 52 billion from external sources such as National Development Fund (NDF), banks and issuance of securities, according to National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Managing Director Mr. Ali Kardor.

  

 

Economy & Society

 

Iran’s private sector issues manifesto, outlining demands from the next administration (Financial Tribune, 19 April 2017)

On 18 April 2017, Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIM) –the country’s biggest private-sector assembly – issued a business manifesto outlining the Iranian private sector’s expectations from the next government. TCCIM notes that the role and importance of private sector in the Iranian economy must be redefined, adding that a temporary jump in production will not ensure stable economic growth, calling for an end to any policy that foster monopolisation and ineffective distribution of resources. Another demand is that of a complete and thorough reform of the banking system with the aim of making the money market more competitive and easing the access of businesses to credit, the removal of burdensome regulations in the capital market and access to guarantees to receive finance and attract foreign investors in partnership with private businesses. The TCCIM noted that the economy must become more competitive with a self-sufficient and outward-looking growth model. In line with this goal, the TCCIM said that the National Competition Center must be overhauled, the current dual foreign exchange regime should be terminated, energy subsidies removed and tariffs regime reformed.

By Natela Outtier
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