The UNCTAD wrote in its recent report, published in June 2017, that Iran has attracted more than $3.37 billion, showing a 64-percent growth.

The report also says that foreign investment in Iran had declined for a few years. But in 2016, Iran signed 3 international investment agreements and could get close to pre-sanction situation.

Mohammad Khazaei said that in the last Iranian year (ending on March 20, 2017) Iran received an unprecedented number of foreign investment applications from which $ 10.4b were approved of and the necessary guarantees were issued.

He added the number shows a 55% growth compared to the previous Iranian year.

Throughout the eight-year period before President Rouhani foreign investment agreements had been signed with Eritrea, Djibouti, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, the Comoros, Gambia, And Bissau Guinea. And after the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was signed on July 14, 2014, Iran has signed agreement with Japan, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Luxemburg, Iraq, and Tanzania; also the agreements with Czech Republic, Croatia and Lithuania have been finalized and are ready to be signed, according to Khazaei.

He added that regarding the provinces that absorbed the investments, Eastern Azerbaijan, Western Azerbaijan, Esfahan, Tehran, Qazvin, Kerman and Razavi Khorasan have been more successful than others.

UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964. Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, and it has offices in New York and Addis Ababa.

UNCTAD is part of the UN Secretariat. It reports to the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council but has its own membership, leadership, and budget. It is also part of the United Nations Development Group.

The Division on Investment and Enterprise of UNCTAD serves as the focal point for all matters related to foreign direct investment and multinational enterprises in the United Nations System. It builds on more than four decades of experience and international expertise in research and policy analysis on investment and enterprise development, fosters intergovernmental consensus-building, and provides technical assistance to over 150 countries.

We are going “to receive another five ATRs until the end of 2017, starting in August or September, and a further eleven in 2018, bringing it to the total 20 we ordered. And from Airbus, we hope to receive two A320s by the end of the year,” said Farhad Parvaresh, Managing Director of Iran Air, in an interview with the American magazine Airways, answering a question on how many new aircrafts Iran will get this year.

“We are intentionally building up the new fleet slowly because we have to manage the arrivals and train pilots and technicians,” he added.

As to recent Gulf Persian region developments’ influence on Iran’s aviation operations, he said that there were about one hundred more overflights a day than before.

“But it doesn’t affect us in any way. There is no issue: Iranian airspace could accept many more aircraft,” Parvaresh added.

Last week, some Persian Gulf Arab states cut their ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism. They closed their transit links, including their airspace to the tiny gas-rich Persian Gulf state.

He also expressed optimism over the renewal process of Iranian fleet, adding that “in less than five months we have received seven aircraft, and they are in operation. That is more than could be expected”.

Last January, Islamic Republic of Iran was delivered a A321 as its first new aircraft to Iran Air in over two decades.

Two months later, Iran Air received the first A330-200, and then 20 days later the second A330 as the third aircraft with four ATR 72s received in May, Parvaresh said.

Minister of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei and Head of Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh attended the signing ceremony.

Hossein A’laei said after one year of negotiations with Boeing, the purchasing contract was signed today.

He said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Aseman Airline and Boeing Company on March 19, 2017.

According to the MoU, Aseman is to receive 30 Boeing 737 in the first phase and then purchasing 30 more planes will be in the agenda to equip this company with new generation of passenger planes.

According to the signed contract, Aseman Company is to pay 3 billion dollars to Boeing for purchase of 60 planes.

Aseman is to pay 5 percent of the amount and the rest of 95 percent will be financed by Boeing.

The first delivery is due to take place in 2022 and during 2 years Boeing is to deliver all 30 planes to the Aseman Company.

Vaezi who also serves as Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, is in the Russian cultural capital to attend the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2017).

The three-day event kicked off on Thursday with the participation of over 12,000 people including the incumbent and former senior officials of the participating countries and the UN representative.

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Petroleum for International Affairs and Trading Amir-Hossein Zamaninia, Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Mohammad Khoddadi and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mahdi Sanaei also attended the SPIEF 2017 public and special panels.

During Vaezi and Novak meeting which took place on the sidelines of the SPIEF 2017, Novak as the Russian co-chairman Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission, hailed the progress of the two countries’ economic cooperation in the past four years.

Meanwhile, Vaezi, who is Novak’s Iranian counterpart in the commission, noted that there is political commitment for boost of ties in both Tehran and Moscow in the second term of President Hassan Rouhani in office.

Rouhni was re-elected for another four-years in office in Iran’s May 19 presidential election winning a landslide victory with garnering 57 percent of the cast ballots (over 23.4 million).
The volume of Iran-Russia trade exchange experienced 70 percent growth in 2016, Vaezi said.

Novak and Vaezi discussed the roadmap for cooperation in various fields including oil, gas, electricity and transit.

Participants of the SPIEF 2017, reviewed major international economic and social challenges, Middle East situation, regional crises, future of the world and relations among the countries as the major topics of the event which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The roadmap for energy cooperation between Tehran and Moscow was signed in a meeting between Iran and Russia joint energy taskforces.

Iran and Russia energy taskforces held a meeting simultaneously with the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2017).

Iran’s deputy minister of petroleum for international affairs attended the SPIEF 2017 panels.

SPIEF 2017 opened late Thursday in a ceremony attended by the Chairman of Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission Mahmoud Vaezi, Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Mohammad Khoddadi and Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei.

Over 12,000 people, including the incumbent and former senior officials of the participating countries and the UN representative, are also present in the ongoing event.

Reviewing major international economic and social challenges, Middle East situation, regional crises, future of the world and relations among the countries are of major topics to be discussed in the meeting, which is to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We, in Iran, similar to you in France, are obsessed with boosting our exports in order to decrease our dependence on oil revenues,” Ali Ahani said Friday in a forum hosted by the Arle exporters’ association as well as the region’s Chamber of Commerce and that of the CCI Nice Côte d’Azur in southern France.

Ahani recommended the French businessmen to visit Iran to assess the vast capacity for cooperation with the Islamic Republic and to engage with credible partners to make joint investments.

This way they can produce their goods in Iran using the relatively ample advantages, and export the surplus after meeting the local market needs, he added.

Chief of Arles region’s exporters association Francois Delueze described Iran as an “important market” that should be given attention in post-sanctions era.

According to Delueze the forum was aimed at examining implementation of joint cooperation plans between Iran and France and considering suggestions offered in this regard by the Iranian envoy, the Chambers of Commerce, foreign trade consultants and exporters association.

Meanwhile, French company Energy Makeen’s chief executive Josef Brun, referring to high investment risks in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, said that the purpose of the forum is taking advantage of he big economic opportunities and capacities yielded by countries like Iran.

Some other issues, including exploring possible ways for French companies to engage with Iran’s market and removing problems and barriers ahead, were also addressed in the meeting.

The forum titled “Opportunities and Challenges of Iran’s Market”, attended by Saint-Rémy-de-Provence’ mayor Herve Cherubini and the businessmen of the region and was held in the City Hall on Friday.

Speaking to IRNA, Iran’s Ambassador to Beijing Ali-Asghar Khaji said on Wednesday that Iran-China trade exchange has reached 21.12 million tons in weight in the first four months of 2017 as compared to the previous year.

Iran’s non-oil export to China has also registered new records and the Islamic Republic of Iran exported 11.59 million tons of non-oil commodities to China in the first four months of 2017 which shows 66 percent growth compared to the previous year, he added.

The envoy rejected rumors that Iran’s petrochemical exports to China has been halted, and said that petrochemical exports to Beijing have not been halted and it has even been growing.

Khaji referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Iran in 2016, and said that the level of cooperation between the two countries has increased to ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.

“The bank facilities, expected to be paid in the form of finance agreements, will go to the projects conceived by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development,” said Mohammad Taqi Norouzi, VNS Representative on Monday during a meeting with provincial financial and economic officials in this north-western Iranian province.

“The company, based on the finance agreements and memorandums of understanding signed between the VNS and Iran, is expected to invest more than 22 billion euros on road projects across the country,” Norouzi said.

He also encouraged officials in West Azarbaijan Province to exploit the investment capacities in the best way.

Eight billion euros of the bank facilities are expected to go to road projects in West Azarbaijan, Norouzi said.

VNS is a combination of international business companies which provide financial facilities of more than 50 billion euros to help develop infrastructure and construction projects in other countries.

With no highways, West Azarbaijan Province, in north-western Iran, has more than 12,000 kilometers of roads.

He pointed to planning of the company to execute two new plans, including Ethylene Oxide project, and said that for engineering sector of the two plans, the MPC had negotiated with Dutch-Shell Company and two other Italian companies, like “ Techno-Mount”, and now is in convening contract process.

He added that it is possible the engineering contract with Shell to be finalized in the coming weeks and new plans of the MPC to be started.

Already director of investment department of National Petrochemical Industries Company Hossein Alimorad had said the company is negotiating with known European company with the aim to transfer technology and the agreement is the outcome of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and is to be signed soon.

He said that the agreement with the European company is in the field of participation in creating joint license in domestic projects, which has plenty of applicants.

Iran petrochemicals products capacity is around 62 million tons now, but by inaugurating seven new plans it will increase to 72 million tons.

It is planned that the capacity will exceed 120 million tons at the end of the sixth development plan and such goal needs $50 to $80 billion dollars investment.

The 172nd Meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Conference is to be held in Vienna within hours on Thursday.

The today OPEC meeting is to focus on the extension of the November 2016 agreement on cutting oil supply.

In Nov, 2016, Pouyanné in an interview told CNN that “it would be happy to be the first Western oil company to reach an agreement with Iran.”

According to Shana, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with a consortium comprising the Total, CNPC and Petropars for developing project on the phase 11 of the supergiant South Pars Gas Field.