Page 19 - IRANRptSep21

rial to drive indigenisation of foreign product parts
projects, Mehr News Agency has reported.
The country has a long history of taking foreign technology and making it its own. Examples of this in the auto industry include the localisation of the Peugeot 206 and 405 cars. The parts for these vehicles are now made by Iranian companies.
Mehdi Sadeghi Niaraki, Iran’s deputy industry, mining and trade minister for industrial affairs, reportedly said that the project was aimed at helping local businesses invest in new technology so that Iran can reverse engineer products and rely less on international supply chains, thus bringing the cost of production down markedly.
“In line with the ‘surge in production’ movement, the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade is trying to use all existing capacities in the country,” the official said while launching the new programme.
In July, Niaraki said €277mn was signed over to auto part companies and automakers to indigenise the production of parts seen in foreign brands. It is believed the parts he was referring to included Peugeot 301 components.
Iran’s industrial production increased by 10.9% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2020.
4.2 Inflation 4.2.1 CPI dynamics
PAST TRENDS: Iran’s economy has been devastated—but not defeated—by the swingeing Donald Trump sanctions brought in from mid-2018, plunging the country into three years of bitter recession. What happens next with just about all economic indicators, including inflation, will depend on whether Tehran can reach an accommodation, via a revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, with the Joe Biden administration. Inflation has raged in Iran since Trump launched his “maximum pressure” campaign—consumer prices in 2019 rose 41% and were on course to grow 30.5% in 2020, according to IMF estimates—with wide discrepancies between different product bands. Any assessment of the pricing picture must take into account extensive grey and black market activities.
19 IRAN Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com