TEHRAN – According to the Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry data 49 industrial projects have been approved in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-August 21), 32.4 percent more than the last year’s same period.

During this period, the volume of foreign investment was more than $850 million, registering a 37.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year, IRNA reported.

Based on the mentioned data, the approved projects in the said five months are going to create 322,371 job opportunities, 29.4 percent more than the figure for the same period last year.

The total investment made in the approved projects in the first five months of this year was more than 1.76 trillion rials (about $41.9 billion) and recorded a growth of 31.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Based on the data, 83.6 percent of the ministry’s foreign investment was attracted by the industry sector, followed by trade and mining with 10.2 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

The largest volume of foreign investment in the mentioned period was attracted by the groups of manufacturing chemical products ($405 million of investment), basic metals ($45 million), food products and beverages ($32 million), and equipment and machinery ($26 million).

Accordingly, the first four countries in terms of the value of investment were Germany, United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, and Turkey, with $341 million, $54 million, $32 million, and $30 million of investments, respectively.

The largest number of investments were made by Afghanistan with 17 cases, followed by China, Turkey, and India.

Also, Sistan-Baluchestan, Khouzestan, Tehran, and East Azarbaijan provinces were the top four provinces in terms of the volume of approved foreign investment.

Back in July, the Industry Ministry published the foreign investment data for the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20), based on which the figure stood at nearly $800 million.

As previously reported by the Industry Ministry, Iran expects a 10-fold increase of foreign investment in industry and mining sectors by the end of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2021).

EF/MA