TEHRAN – The secretary of Iran’s Free Zones High Council has outlined 10 new strategies to increase investment and export in the country’s free and special economic zones, the news portal of Iranian free zones (Freena) reported.

Hojatollah Abdolmaleki made the remarks in a meeting with the deputy heads of the country’s free zones on the sidelines of the second EAEU Exclusive exhibition in Tehran on Thursday.

Abdolmaleki stated that the mentioned strategies mainly focus on a network of cooperation among the investment and economic departments of the country’s free zones.

“Joint marketing between the free zones in the fields of income, investment, logistics, and export is the main purpose of the said network,” he explained.

Implementing a comprehensive plan for developing logistics and re-export from free zones by using the capacities of combined transport and transit among free zones is another part of the mentioned strategies, the official said.

“The third strategy is the use of the capacity of international organizations and agreements such as the Eurasian Economic Union. Shanghai, BRICS, ECO, etc.,” he added.

The official stated that identifying the advantages and distinctive features of free zones and introducing them to each other to benefit from the relative advantages of each zone in the network structure is another part of the mentioned coordinated strategies.

“The fifth strategy is to use the passenger goods model to maximize the income of free zone organizations and the sixth strategy, is to attend exhibitions and domestic and international business events to introduce the investment opportunities of free zones in line with the continuation of the path taken this year,” Abdolmaleki said.

The seventh strategy would be to determine a supply chain of goods among free zones in such a way that goods are exchanged, sold, or supplied in a cooperative network, the official said, adding: “using China's One Belt One Road plan with a focus on free zones, determining a comprehensive tourism network of free and special zones to outline the common interests and goals are the eighth and ninth parts of this program; and monetary, banking, and financial cooperation in the form of drawing up a cooperation style sheet to finance construction projects and investment is the tenth strategy.”

EF/MA