TEHRAN - Iran has attracted $5.168 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) after the implementation of the nuclear deal in January, government spokesman Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht said on Monday.

He said 28 projects attracted $2.873 billion in the last quarter of the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) and 38 projects attracted $2.295 billion since the beginning of the current calendar year, IRIB reported.

According to Nobakht, the mentioned projects have been mainly in the areas of transportation, renewable energies, tourism, recycling industries, electronics, machineries, and foodstuff.

That was while the country attracted just $920 million in FDI for 41 projects in the Iranian calendar year 1393 (March 2014-March 2015), when the sanctions were still in place, Nobakht highlighted, adding that FDI amounted to $6.711 billion for 63 projects in the previous Iranian calendar year.

Major international companies are rushing to establish a position in Iran as the Islamic Republic re-opens for business after the lifting of international sanctions.

Up for grabs is access to a market with 80 million people and annual output of some $400 billion, making Iran the biggest economy to rejoin the global trading system.

MA/MG