Iran saw a new record in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the calendar year to late March despite sanctions imposed by the US.
Head of Iran’s Organization for Investment & Economic and Technical Assistance (OIETA) said on Sunday that the net FDI attracted to Iran in the past calendar year had reached a total of $5.5 billion.
Ali Fekri said the figure was a record in the 16-year history of the OIETA, adding that the organization had issued permits for other FDI projects but they were removed from the tally because investors had failed to bring funds into the country.
Fekri said that another $2.5 billion worth of foreign investment had been attracted to Iranian projects over the past calendar year which were not authorized or registered by the OIETA.
China was responsible for $2 billion worth of investment in Iranian projects last year, he said, adding that Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iranians living abroad had the largest share in foreign investment in the country after China over the same period.
He dismissed reports suggesting that the increase in Iran’s FDI was because of new inflows coming from Afghanistan, saying that the entire investment by the Afghans in Iran had not exceeded $35 million in the year to March.
A bulk of FDI attracted to the Iranian economy over the past calendar year went to manufacturing or mining and metals projects, he said.
Fekri said the total FDI authorized by the OIETA during the three years of the outgoing administration had reached $11 billion, adding that oil and gas sector in the country had attracted the largest share of foreign investments over the period.