Page 21 - IRANRptSep18

Kazakhstan and Iran cooperating on visas for entrepreneurs
Uzbekistan and Iran to establish joint investment committee
Several other areas across the country were also designated as special economic zones to boost employment. Oshnavieh in West Azerbaijan, Omidieh in Khuzestan and Amol in Mazandaran were some of the locales reported as nominated future economic centres. Modifications were also made to the annexation maps for some free trade zone areas. These included small expansions of existing plots to include industrial areas.
Kazakhstan and Iran are reciprocally making it easier for entrepreneurs to obtain visas, Kazinform has reported citing Iran's extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Kazakhstan Mojtaba Damirchilu.
The efforts follow the signing of an interim agreement that led to the formation of a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) of which Kazakhstan is a founding member.
"We had talks on easing the visa regime for Kazakh and Iranian citizens. As a conclusion of these negotiations we signed a document which covers facilitation of visa issuance for entrepreneurs of the two countries,” the Iranian ambassador said.
“We are also interested in facilitating the movement of citizens between the two countries. Certain measures are being taken in this direction. Iran's stance with regard to neighbours is aimed at facilitating or completely establishing a visa-free regime with them."
Uzbekistan’s Minister of Foreign Trade, Jamshid Khodjayev, has reached an agreement to establish a joint investment committee with Iran aimed at increasing trade transactions, the state-run UzDaily news agency reported on July 2. Uzbekistan, which has common historical and cultural ties with Iran, could become an unexpected bastion of Iranian influence in Central Asia , some analysts say. Improving bilateral relations is crucial for Iran as Tajikistan has been increasing its anti-Iran rhetoric while T urkmenistan has fallen out with Iran over gas exports .
“More than 100 Iranian companies are active in Uzbekistan,” said the head of Iran's Organisation for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance, Mohammad Khazaei during Khodjayev's visit to Tehran, aimed at signing MoUs ahead of President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Uzbekistan.
When it comes to bilateral trade, Uzbekistan is the party with the greater need for it. Tashkent and Tehran have previously discussed the possibility of Uzbekistan buying Iranian crude oil—a resource much sought after by the Uzbeks, who under the late president Islam Karimov suffered lengthy oil and petrol shortages.
5.3 FDI
Iran FDI 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
FDI net inflows (BoP) (USD bn)
3.649 4.277 4.662 3.05 2.105 2.05 3.37
FDI net inflows (% of GDP)
0.749 0.733 0.778 0.653 0.485 0.531 0.805
FDI net outflows (% of GDP)
0.049 0.044 0.226 0.04 0.001 0.031 0.025
source: World Bank
UK private equity firm signs memorandum on
British private equity firm Red Arrow Investment Group has signed a memorandum with Iranian counterpart Farda Roshan Group to invest in Iran, Asli Khabar reported on August 25.
21 IRAN Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com