Page 22 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Iran Dec17

Iranian executive, judiciary and parliamentary leaders discuss FDI in rare publicised meeting
French state investment bank earmarks €500mn for Iran investments
Bloomberg on July 26, saying: “What investors – whether Russian, Chinese or Europeans or others – hate the most is uncertainty, and what worries Iran is that because of the uncertainty brought on by the US, Iran may not see the return of foreign investors it hoped the deal would yield.”
The leaders of three branches of Iran's government held a rare publicised meeting in the Victorian-era parliament building in Tehran late on October 30 to discuss working more closely together to attract foreign investment.
Head of the executive, President Hassan Rouhani, met with the head of the judiciary, Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, and his brother and Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani. The Larijanis are part of the single most influential family in Iran.
“Good decisions were made to better attract investment, particularly from Iranian entrepreneurs abroad,” Rouhani said of the meeting, saying all investors and entrepreneurs should be given the chance to enjoy the economic opportunities in Iran.
Expatriate foreign investors often decline to return home fearing arbitrary detention. In the past few years, several dual nationals and foreigners have been sentenced on unspecified charges. Many remain in jail.
Rouhani added that the three government figures had been asked by the Office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to hold liaison meetings more regularly and to brief the press on those meetings.
“I believe that if all the branches of power are united under the supervision of the leader of the Islamic Revolution, the country can move along the path of progress. Of course, the cooperation, consultation and coordination between Iran’s three branches of power is very influential,” said Rouhani.
French state investment bank Banque publique d'investissement (BPI France) will from 2018 provide €500mn in finance to French companies investing in the Iranian economy, Reuters reported on September 25. BPI France is the latest of a number of European state-owned financial institutions choosing to back their countries’ investors working in Iran. The support will help to counter any possible move by the US administration to dismantle the nuclear deal signed in November 2015 that lifted international economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
BPI France CEO Nicolas Dufourcq confirmed to reporters that his bank would grant up to €500mn in annual credit to companies that venture into the Iranian market.
Dufourcq added that his bank saw no risk of becoming exposed to any punitive measures from Washington for its Iran business plans because it had no operations in the US.
"Excluding a force majeure case, we will be on their side in early 2018. We are the only French bank that can do it without risking US sanctions for a possible breach of remaining embargo rules," he told Le Journal on Sunday.
Several France-based enterprises are already pushing ahead with ambitious plans for investments in Iran. They include energy major Total,
22 IRAN Country Report November 2017 www.intellinews.com