Corporate News & Business

 

GTC allows imports of 550,000 tons of sugar (Financial Tribune, 22 April 2017)

The Government Trading Corporation (GTC) of Iran has given the green light for importing 550,000 tons of sugar to stabilise the market. GTC Deputy Head Mr. Hassan Abbasi, said that Iranians consume between 2.2 and 2.4 million tons of sugar a year and last year’s (March 2016-17) sugar production stood at 1.64 million tons. GTC is a government-owned company specializing in the purchase, import and distribution of essential foodstuff. It is the lever for enforcing market controls.

Over 400 companies to attend Iran Beauty & Cleaning Products Exhibition (Tehran Times, 22 April 2017)

Some 237 Iranian and 190 foreign companies will take part in the 24th International Exhibition of Detergent, Cleanser, Hygienic, Cellulose Products & Related Machinery of Iran to take place in Tehran on 24-29 April 2017. Foreign participants come from China, Italy, Turkey, South Korea, France, Germany, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, India, Switzerland, Malaysia, Russia, England, the Netherlands, Japan, Lithuania, Greece, Czech Republic, Belarus, Slovenia, Ireland, the United States, and Belgium.

 

Italian firms determined to invest in Iran’s renewables (Tehran Times, 21 April 2017)

The head of an Italian trade delegation visiting the southern province of Hormozgan said that considering its geographical characteristics the region had great potential for the establishment of solar and wind power plants. He added that Italian companies will start with small 25 megawatts (MW) solar plants as pilot, before expanding and constructing bigger plants. During Italy’s Prime Minister Mr. Matteo Renzi’s visit to Tehran in April 2016, Tehran and Rome signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on construction of 500 MW of renewable energy power plants in Iran.

 

Ukraine and Iran will test a railway line for agriculture exchanges (Sputnik, 20 April 2017)

On 20 April 2017, Ukraine and Iran agreed to launch a rail link for the transportation of agricultural products  announced Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure by quoting head of department Vladimir Omelyan. The same day, the Ukrainian Ministry held a meeting with an Iranian delegation. They discussed coverage in maritime, rubber and air transport. He

 

Finance

 

Vietnamese President calls for banking ties with Iran (Mehr News Agency, 22 April 2017)

Hosting an Iranian delegation led by Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Mr. Gholamhossein Shafei in Hanoi, Vietnamese President Mr. Trần Đại Quang, urged his country’s banks to bolster relations with their Iranian counterparts. The Vietnamese president deplored the low volume of trade turnover between the two sides recalling that, during President Rouhani’s visit to Hanoi, it was agreed  that efforts would be made to reach US$ 2 billion bilateral trade in the years to come.

 

Oil & Gas

 

Iran, India sign LPG deal for first time (Tehran Times, 22 April 2017)

Iran has signed a deal for selling liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to India said Managing Director of Iran’s Gas Commercial Company (IGCC) Mr. Mohammadali Barati. IGCC is in charge of the gas sales for the phases 4 and 5 of South Pars field.

 

Italy’s Saras cleared oil debt with Iran in Q1(Tehran Times, 22 April 2017)

Italian oil refiner Saras cleared in the first quarter of this year the debt it owed Iran for oil bought before sanctions were imposed, said the company’s General Manager Mr. Dario Scaffardi. The total amount of debt the refiner owed Iran was 400 million euros. Saras used to take a significant part of its feedstock from Iran before the embargo. It has resumed shipments since nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were removed in January 2016.

 

International

 

Iran, Russia, Turkey meet in Tehran ahead of Astana talks on Syria (Tasnim News, 20 April 2017)

Having initiated in December 2016 a ceasefire plan to resolve a bloody six-year crisis in Syria Iran, Russia, and Turkey held a senior-level meeting in Tehran (18-19 April 2017) to coordinate efforts ahead of the fourth round of diplomatic negotiations in Astana to take place on 3-4 May 2017. Delegations from Iran, Russia, and Turkey discussed draft documents on a ceasefire regime in Syria, as well as prisoners exchange between the Damascus government and rebels. A delegation of UN experts attended the trilateral meetings in Tehran as observer and offered precious technical assistance on special issues.

 

 

Economy & Society

 

Majlis Think-Tank Puts GDP Growth at 8.9% (Financial Tribune, 22 April 2017)

Iran’s Parliament Research Centre has revised up its former economic growth estimate for the last Iranian year (21 March 2016-20 March 2017) by 1.7%, saying the economy expanded by 8.9%. Finance Minister Mr. Ali Tayyebnia has estimated that last year’s GDP growth stood at 8%. The revision came after economic figures and data were released by official bodies for the nine months to 20 December 2016. According to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Iranian economy grew 11.9% during the three quarters. Without taking the oil sector into account, growth rate stands at 1.9%, CBI says. The Statistical Center of Iran has put the growth rate at 7.2% including oil and 5% excluding it.

Kerman airport ready to issue visa for tourists (Mehr News Agency, 20 April 2017)

On 20 April 2017 Iran’s Foreign Ministry opened a consular services office at Kerman International Airport. With the new office in Kerman, citizens of 180 countries can reserve a visa online and upon arrival at Kerman airport they can acquire their visa showing their passport. The new service enables foreign visitors and tourists to directly fly to Kerman and start their tour of Iran from the southern province with 5 world heritage sites listed by UNESCO and more than 600 historic places and sites listed nationally.

Iran among top 4 producers of decorative stones (Mehr News Agency, 20 April 2017)

General Director of the Bureau for Mining Affairs at Iran’s Industry Ministry Mr. Kavous Ghasemi said that Iran is among the top 4 countries of the world in terms o-of reserves and production of decorative stones. The official asserted that Iran has noticeable reserves of mineral resources which have not been discovered and tapped yet. Mr. Ghasemi official noted that mineral production has grown 5% in the last Iranian year (21 March 2016-20March 2017) in comparison with the previous year. He added that foreign investors are exploring Iran’s Eastern Azerbaijan Province in search of gold and copper, while a gold mine in Kurdistan Province has been recently put into tapping.

By Natela Outtier
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