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9.2.4 TMT corporate news
MTN Group, one of Africa’s biggest mobile operators, has said it will struggle to repatriate profits from its Iranian subsidiary MTN-Irancell if heavy sanctions are reimposed on Iran following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal , Iran Labour News Agency reported on May 9.
South Africa-based MTN’s Irancell is Iran’s second-largest mobile operator and has investments in several companies including the country’s answer to Uber and an Amazon copycat enterprise. The company has also invested heavily in upgrading Iranian telecoms with joint deals for laying fibre-optic internet infrastructure in Tehran and Isfahan. MTN said it feared that the likely upcoming sanctions from Washington will cause a remaining balance of €200mn in profits to get stuck in Iran if the current schedule for repatriating the funds is not brought forward.
The company said it has repatriated €88mn to date in 2018 including €61mn relating to the 2017 dividend due to MTN Group as well as an additional €27mn of historic dividends. In March, the wireless operator said it expected the last part of earmarked cash to be sent and received by September. MTN-Irancell reportedly has more than 50mn users. It is the most active mobile operator when it comes to the implementation of new broadcast technologies.
9.2.5 Tourism corporate news
On May 28, Dutch-based Booking.com was reported to be halting its operations in Iran due to the impending US sanctions. The move was disclosed by the Hoteliers Association of Iran. The company was represented by its Middle East subsidiary at the 2017 Iran Tourism Fair in Tehran and as of January 2018 said it would accept local payments in rials. Hoteliers Association of Iran director Jamshid Hamzezadeh said that given the relatively low number of Iran hotel bookings carried out on Booking.com, the company’s withdrawal will not have a considerable impact on the country’s tourism industry or on the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran.
As things stand, no foreign company will be able work with Iranian hotels, leaving only a handful of local operators who have foreign subsidiaries to address the required work.
9.2.6 Retail corporate news
One of Iran’s newer private postal firms, Tipax, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Postal Services Company on boosting internet sales between the two Persian Gulf countries, AFP reported. By widening access to the Qatar market, Tipax aims to push up trade for big online retail names in Iran such as Amazon-copycat DigiKala. Qatar currently relies heavily on Iran, Turkey and other friendly countries opposed to the land, sea and air blockade mounted against the tiny, gas-rich peninsular nation by Gulf Cooperation Council states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The move was triggered by differences over political allegiances and Qatar’s alleged support for militant groups in the Middle East opposed by Riyadh and its allies. Iran and Turkey, for instance, have provided Qatar Airways with alternative flight paths and have provided vital consumer goods supplies to Qatar to assist its population.
Trade between Iran and Qatar is expected to continue to grow thanks in part to a newly created joint chamber of commerce , increased Fast-moving consumer
40 IRAN Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com