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flights
10,000 Afghan nationals live on the Persian Gulf island, many of whom work as labourers at industrial sites.
Flights to Turkey would boost the international connectivity of the island and its free trade zone, with connections to Turkish Airlines and other carriers’ flights from the Istanbul mega hub one aim of QFZO in introducing the new air routes, hopefully within months. It is not known whether a foreign or Iranian airline will operate the flights to Turkey and Afghanistan.
Qeshm port lies just 60 kilometres from the Omani port of Khasab and around 180 kilometres from Dubai’s Port Rashid.
9.2.4 Agricultural corporate news
Bank Kesharvarzi provides loan to entrepreneurs tapping into Iran’s dairy farming expansion with 2,000 cow farm
Iran’s Bank Kesharvarzi (Agriculture Bank) is providing a loan of Iranian rial (IRR) 300bn ($1.1mn at the unofficial rate, $7.1mn at the government rate) to agro-industrial company Saba Pegah Lorestan for construction of a 2,000-cow dairy farm in the western Lorestan province in the Zagros mountains, IBENA has reported.
Iran’s dairy industry has seen significant expansion in recent years. It now even runs operations in Iraq and, thanks to a recent deal, Armenia. Despite its mostly arid climate, Iran is the most significant milk producer in Western Asia after Turkey. It has industrial-sized dairy farms spread the length and breadth of the country.
Saba Pegah Lorestan’s dairy farm is expected to become one of the most modern industrial farm entities in Iran. It covers an area of more than 41,000 square metres.
Ali Ansari-pour, CEO of Saba Pegah Lorestan, said that at full capacity the farm would produce more than 25,000 tonnes of milk and 350 tonnes of red meat per year.
He added: "This farm is one of the most modern farms in the country and to increase the welfare and health of livestock and also increase the quality and quantity of milk produced, a ‘free-range’ method of farming has been introduced.”
Milk and other dairy products worth $325.9mn were exported from the Islamic Republic during the first nine months of the previous Persian calendar year (March 21-December 21, 2019), according to Abdolmehdi Bakhshandeh, Deputy Agriculture Minister for Planning and Economic Affairs. The available data also showed that in the entirety of that year (ended March 21, 2020), Iran produced around 10mn tonnes of milk.
9.2.5 Fast-moving consumer goods corporate news
European supermarket chain SPAR opens in Iran
European supermarket chain SPAR has opened a medium sized outlet in Iran, Tejarat Talaee business news website reported on November 30. With the store in Tehran, run by a joint venture with a local company SPAR IRAN, SPAR can commence a strategy to tap into grocery shopping in Iran, over the past decade one of the clear growth areas of Iran’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector and now worth around $80bn per annum, according to Vistar Business Monitor.
The small supermarket industry in Iran expanded after the nuclear deal was signed in 2015, removing UN sanctions imposed on Tehran. Local and foreign brands snapped up prime real estate across Tehran and other cities where square metres come at a premium. Since the US commenced with its heavy sanctions programme against Iran in mid-2018 driving out foreign investment, the expansion has obviously slowed down.
56 IRAN Country Report December 2020 www.intellinews.com
