Page 21 - IRANRptSep19

Iranian president orders ministers to launch free trade zone with EEU
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has tasked the country’s Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade to start implementing the free trade zone agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the presidential press service reported July 8.
Iran was hurriedly pushing ahead with plans to enter into an agreement with the Russian-led economic bloc which encompasses several former Soviet Union economies as a means of protecting its supply chains. EEU countries include Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan currently.
The EEU and Iran signed the temporary agreement on a free trade zone that is aimed at boosting trade between the countries through eased customs regulations on May 17, 2018.
Iran’s top legal vetting committee, the Guardian Council, confirmed the bill on the temporary agreement for launching a free trade agreement between Iran and the EEU on June 27, passing one of the few final hurdles before making it to the president’s office.
The bill allows the government to authorise trading when other representative governments that are part of the bloc clear the FTA.
Previously, the bill went before the I ranian parliamentary commission where legal experts and clerics view such drafted legislation. Unlike other legislation, such as anti-money laundering bills recently proposed, the EEU document cleared its round with the commission without a hitch.
In the debate at the commission, Iranian MP Ali-Akbar Karimi said: “Accession to the EEU would serve as a prelude to joining the World Trade Organisation.” “The bill on the preliminary agreement for the creation of a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union was studied at the commission in the presence of Energy Minister [Reza Ardakanian] and later approved by the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission,” said Ali Najafi Khoshrudi, a spokesman for the commission.
As part of the EEU-Iran deal, Armenia and Iran also agreed to boost bilateral gas for electricity and goods swaps.
The Commissioning Council of the EEU approved a roadmap for Iran’s entry into a specified free trade zone in September, enabling Iran to move ahead with building closer economic relations with parts of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Russia.
5.3 FDI
Iran FDI 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
FDI net inflows (BoP) (USD bn)
3.649 4.277 4.662 3.05 2.105 2.05 3.372 5.019
FDI net inflows (% of GDP)
0.749 0.733 0.778 0.653 0.485 0.531 0.805 1.105
FDI net outflows (% of GDP)
0.049 0.044 0.226 0.04 0.001 0.031 0.025
source: World Bank
Five-year residences in Iran offered to foreigners who bring $250,000 investment
I ran’s Interior Ministry has announced that with a $250,000 investment in the economy a foreigner can be granted a five-year residency, Tasnim News Agency reported on July 31.
Like other regional countries including Turkey and Azerbaijan, Iran is attempting to increase its income from foreign direct investment (FDI), but transferring money from abroad to an Iranian bank account is presently a
21 IRAN Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com