Page 44 - IRANRptMar19

foreigners entering the country.
Iran’s tourism industry has been hit by foreign airlines, wary of getting hit by secondary US sanctions, scrapping their flights to the country.
There have been recent efforts to boost tourism from friendly countries, including Russia and India, but Iran has failed to turn the tide on its declining tourism trade.
In November, Iran and Russia took another step towards mutually abolishing tourist visas .
9.1.9 Healthcare sector news
A Swiss payment channel that will help Iran to import medicines is ready to operate but is awaiting capital to launch, Otagh Online (“Chamber” Online) has reported the president of the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce as saying.
Switzerland has for several years operated a distinct business channel for Iran-bound medical consignments, accounting for around 60% of Swiss medical exports sent to the Islamic Republic. However, with the reimposition of sanctions by the US last year, Switzerland found itself having to apply for a special sanctions-waiver to cover the trade mechanism from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“The channel is ready, its characteristics have been announced, but it’s waiting for the deposit of necessary funds from Iran,” Sharif Nezam-Mafi, president of the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce, told the news outlet.
“There is no Iranian money in the channel yet”, he said.
“There is no money from Iran in Europe, much of the Iranian funds are still in India, Iraq, China and South Korea,” Nezam-Mafi added, referring to some of the countries the US is temporarily allowing to continue purchasing Iranian crude oil with no threat of sanctions.
Those and other countries are facing difficulties in sending export payments to Tehran due to the heavy restrictions on any financial transactions with the Iranians also introduced by the US.
The chamber of commerce official added that for the medical channel to operate, European countries must state their agreement that Iran can transfer funds from buyers of Iranian crude in Asia to purchase medicines in Europe.
The Swiss have already designated two banks likely to accept the trade to be conducted with the mechanism: “It could either be the Heritage Bank or Banque de Commerce et de Placements [BCP], banks that were handling the Iranian money before the sanctions,” Nezam-Mafi said.
The exports would only flow from Switzerland and would only involve medicine provided by Swiss companies, he added.
9.1.10 Metallurgy & mining sector news
Iran Minerals Production Company director Behrouz Borna has said Iran will soon reach a production level of eight tonnes of gold a year, Iran Student News Agency reported on August 15. The country, he added, has the potential to explore 1,000 tonnes of gold deposits.
Assessed proven reserves of gold in Iran's mines currently stand at 250 tonnes. They are being mined by private, public and foreign investors. "The Geological Organization of Iran has discovered more than 1,000 promising zones for gold of which we have explored 100 zones," Borna
44 IRAN Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com