Page 45 - IRANRptNov18

$25 for a three-month stay.
Azerbaijanis living in Baku and cities closer to the Iranian border are increasingly taking day trips over the border to pick up weekly shopping and cheap home consumer items. The vast majority of the travellers pass through the Astara-Astara border point, with many people crossing on foot.
According to Azerbaijani official statistics, 29.7% of all outbound travel from Azerbaijan was conducted into Iran in the eight-month period.
However, trips by Iranians going the other way saw a marked decreased in the same period, with only 9.4% of inbound travellers arriving in Azerbaijan coming from Iran. Year on year, Azerbaijan has witnessed a 25.4% decrease in the number of Iranian arrivals.
The numbers put out by Azerbaijan’s border authorities show that Iran was the second-most-popular destination for Azerbaijanis, with Georgia ranked first as accounting for 30% of outbound travel in the period. Russia followed Iran with 19.6% and Turkey came in fourth with 13.4%.
Three Iranian airlines offer services to Baku from several Iranian cities, while Azerbaijan’s low-cost Buta Airways flies to Tehran.
9.1.10 Healthcare sector news
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has ringfenced some $3bn of reserves to cover the financing of imports of pharmaceutical products, according to its governor, Islamic Republic News Agency reported on October 9.
During the international sanctions that were applied to Iran in years prior to the late 2015 signing of the nuclear deal, several Iranian pharmaceutical companies suffered big difficulties in sourcing supplies due to international companies being unwilling to export to Iran. This time around, the country has a game plan to make sure nearly all pharmaceutical products will remain available.
CBI governor Abdol Nasser Hemmati said that “medicine and equipment are our top priority and we want to make sure the central bank is supporting the imports of these goods”.
According to a September report carried by the Wall Street Journal, as part of a broader plan to secure imports of pharmaceuticals a French-Iranian national bought a defunct French pharmaceutical producer for $3mn. The Iranian government has become the majority owner of the now Iranian-owned company based outside Paris. The producer can reportedly ensure Iran obtains medicines for tuberculosis, bladder cancer and other conditions.
9.1.11 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 reportedly said, adding that there were at least “16 gold regions to explore in the country.” "According to the discovery results of these 100 zones, in 21 provinces the existence of gold for mining has been proven, and 12 have
45 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com