TEHRAN- Presence of foreign investors in the capital market of Iran has risen 42 percent since the removal of sanctions against the country in January 2016, Head of Iranian Central Securities Depository and Settlement Funds Company (known as SAMAT) Mohammad Reza Mohseni announced in an interview with IRNA.

The official said that some 264 foreign investors have received dealing codes in Iran’s market since the last Iranian calendar year’s tenth month of Dey (December 21, 2015-Januaray 19, 2016, when Iran signed the landmark nuclear deal with the world’s major powers), adding that this figure shows 42 percent rise compared with the figure of the same period of time in the preceding year.

Also, Amir Hamooni, the CEO of Iran’s over-the-counter (OTC) market, known also as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB), told IRNA on Monday that as of the implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, in January 2016, five trillion rials (about $128 million) of foreign investments have been attracted by IFB.

Highlighting the ever-increasing trend of foreign investors’ presence in IFB after nuclear deal implementation, Hamooni added that during the past months investors from Asia and Europe have entered IFB and purchased shares of Iranian companies, with which they used to cooperate during the sanction era.

The foreign investors are mainly from Germany, Persian Gulf littoral states and countries from eastern Asia, he added.

The announced amount of attracted foreign investment is not huge, IFB CEO underscored, so to increase the figure, it is vital to improve Iran’s banking infrastructure, information technology, and regularly present transparent reports of Iranian companies’ financial statements and data.

MA/MG