TEHRAN - The Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade has approved 6.702 quadrillion rials (about $159.6 billion) of investment projects in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 -October 22), which shows a 133.3 percent rise compared to the last year’s same period.

According to the latest data released by the ministry, over 21,381 licenses were issued for the establishment of industrial units during the mentioned seven months, 2.9 percent less than the figure for the previous year’s same period.

The said industrial units created jobs for 515,096 people which was 5.4 percent more than the previous year’s same time span.

The Industry Ministry had approved 74 foreign investment projects valued at about $2.227 billion in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22).

A total of 113 foreign investment projects valued at $2.614 billion were approved in the country during the mentioned period, of which the share of the industry, mining, and trade sector was 65 percent and 85 percent in terms of number and value, respectively.

Of the total number of investment projects in the current year’s six-month period, 94.5 percent was the share of the industry sector, 4.2 percent was the share of the mining sector, while trade-related projects accounted for 1.3 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, base metals, radio, television and communication equipment, and tobacco-related products.

Ghana, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, the Netherlands, and Germany were the top five countries with the highest volume of investment, while, Khuzestan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Zanjan, Markazi, and East Azarbaijan were the top five provinces in terms of the volume of approved foreign investment.

Afghanistan, Turkey, China, the UAE, and Germany were also the top five investors in terms of the number of approved projects during the said time span.

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