TEHRAN – The secretary of Iran’s Free Zones High Council has said that 1,000 investment packages worth nine quadrillion rials (about €20 billion) have been prepared to be offered to investors in the country’s free and special economic zones.

Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the Second Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Exclusive Exhibition on Tuesday, Hojatollah Abdolmaleki said: “The preparation of investment projects to introduce the country’s free and special economic zones to international economic operators and investors was put on the agenda since the beginning of the current [Iranian calendar] year (late March 2023).”

“Investment projects are considered as a tool to introduce the opportunities and advantages of investment in the country’s free and special economic zones to the economic operators. The preliminary studies of each of these projects have been done, the infrastructure has been provided and the necessary licenses have been issued,” Abdolmaleki explained.

According to the official, the mentioned investment packages have been unveiled in four stages since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, the last of which worth 2.5 quadrillion rials (about $5.0 billion) was presented in the EAEU exclusive exhibition.

Abdolmaleki noted that over 370 trillion rials (about $740 million) of investment has been attracted in the country’s free and special economic zones in the current year and investors have also applied to invest 4.3 quadrillion rials (about $8.6 billion) in 1,400 projects based in seven different free zones across the country.

The secretary of the Free Zones High Council emphasized that these zones are considered as poles of the economic progress, adding: “Free and special economic zones are frontiers of the country's international economy and more than a third of the country’s non-oil exports was done from these zones.

The establishment of free trade zones (FTZs) in Iran dates back to the Iranian calendar year 1368 (March 1989 - March 1990) following the fall in the country’s oil income in the preceding year which prompted the government to promote non-oil exports.

The first two free trade zones of Iran were established in the south of the country. The first one was Kish Free Trade Zone established in 1368 on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf and the second one was Qeshm Free Trade Zone established the year after on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Some five other free trade zones have been also established in the country since then, including Chabahar in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Arvand in southwestern Khuzestan Province, Anzali in northern Gilan Province, Aras in East-Azarbaijan Province and Maku in West-Azarbaijan Province, both in the northwest of the country. 

The development of existing free trade zones and the establishment of new FTZs has become one of the major economic approaches of the Iranian government.

EF/MA