Energy

Arab states demand Iran’s natural gas (IRNA – 21 May 2017)

 A deputy oil minister expressed the willingness by some Arab States of the Persian Gulf region to import Iran’s natural gas in the post-election era as a good opportunity to pursue the matter.

The Arab States of the Persian Gulf have indirectly said that they wish to negotiate about the matter, said Hamidreza Araqi, who is also the Managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) when asked about negotiations with the Arab States of the Persian Gulf on purchasing Iran’s natural gas.
Although the countries located in the Persian Gulf region have rich reserves of crude oil, they lack enough natural gas resources, but only Iran and Qatar have access to huge resources of natural gas and the capacities for exporting it.

Economy

Germany, Netherlands, Britain eager to invest in Iran petrochemical industry (IRNA – 21 May 2017)

An official at the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) says that many foreign companies are interested in making investment in Iran’s petrochemical industry following the implementation of the Joint Comprehesive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Germany, the Netherlands and Britain top those countries that are interested in working in the Iranian market, head of the Investment Directorate of the NPC Hossein Ali-Morad noted.
According to a report published by Mashal weekly, active presence of the foreign companies in Iran is due to the outcomes of the July 2015 landmark nuclear deal also known as JCPOA, he said.

Drinking water to be supplied to 1200-1600 villages by Mar. 2018 (Tehran Times – 21 May 2017)

 In line with completing water supplying projects in the country, Iran’s Energy Ministry plans to supply drinking water to 1200-1600 new villages by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2018), Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Iran has allocated over $639 million to building modern water distribution networks and implementing water projects in the country’s rural areas by the end of this calendar year.

Italy top EU trade partner of Iran in 2017 Q1 (Tehran Times – 21 May 2017)

 Italy was the first trade partner of Iran among the European Union member states, during the first three months of 2017, European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat announced.

According to Eurostat, the volume of trade between Iran and Italy in the said period hit €1.2 billion, with €800 million pertaining to Iran’s exports to Italy and €400 million to its imports from the country.

Italy was the first trade partner of Iran while France and Germany came as the second and third.

First VP announces prioritized economic programs (Tehran Times – 21 May 2017)

 Iran’s First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri has tasked the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs with implementing 14 prioritized programs by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2018).

Improving the country’s business environment index by 10 steps, implementing the value added tax law, developing a comprehensive taxation plan, enhancing the country’s competitiveness rank, empowering the domestic insurance industry, and creating an intelligent system to fight money laundering are some of the projects, Mehr news agency reported.

In January 2017, Jahangiri said that creating an economic opening won’t be viable unless resistance economy guidelines are implemented by all responsible bodies.

“If resistance economy policies are implemented by all, the country’s economy has the potential to flourish and enhance living conditions of people,” Jahangiri said, “Advancing resistance economy is an important task that demands the participation of all governmental, official, and civil organizations.”

The term “resistance economy” was used for the first time in 2013 by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to highlight the importance of domestic production as a tool to reduce dependence on foreign resources.