TEHRAN - The Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade has approved 104 foreign investment projects valued at about $1.477 billion in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-December 20, 2020), up 128 percent compared to the last year’s same period.

According to the latest data released by the ministry, in the mentioned nine-month period, 129 foreign investment cases valued at $4.384 billion were approved in the country, of which 33 percent, in terms of value, was the share of the industry, mining, and trade sectors.

Foreign investment approved by the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry in the first nine months of this year increased 48 percent and 128 percent in terms of number and value, respectively, compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Of the total value of investment made in the mentioned period, 87.5 percent was the share of industry, 5.7 percent was the share of mining, while trade-related projects accounted for 6.8 percent of the total figure.

The highest volume of foreign investment approved in the industry, mining, and trade sectors in the period under review were in the categories of chemical materials and products, manufacturing of home appliances, manufacturing of machinery and equipment, as well as printing, and packing industries, respectively.

Germany, China, Turkey, and the UK were the countries with the highest volume of investment, while, Khuzestan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Tehran, Kermanshah, and Qazvin provinces were the top five provinces in terms of the volume of approved foreign investment.

The Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry had approved 75 foreign investment cases valued at about $1.02 billion in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21, 2020).

As previously reported by the Industry Ministry, Iran expects a 10-fold increase of foreign investment in the industry and mining sectors by the end of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (March 2022).

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