Iyzico’s agreement with Tehran-based electronic payments platform PECCO lets its customers process transactions from some 230 million payment cards that until recently weren’t connected to any financial system outside Iran, according to Barbaros Ozbugutu, Iyzico’s German-Turkish chief executive. The deal is the first of its kind, he said in an interview in Istanbul.
Since visiting Tehran last year, the founders of the World Bank-backed company have been working on expanding in Iran, Ozbugutu said. That gives them a foothold in a country that’s been so far untapped by U.S.-based competitors Paypal Holdings Inc. and Stripe Inc.
‘We’re fulfilling the role Paypal was providing in places like Germany, where they were the preferred provider during that country’s digitalization phase,’ Ozbugutu said of Iyzico’s home market. It made sense to expand to Iran because there are ‘two major markets in the region with high card penetration, and they’re Iran and Turkey. Both have populations of 80 million, a very young population and quite high Internet penetration.’
Iyzico signed the deal to enter Iran after restrictions excluding the country from the SWIFT banking system began to be dismantled as part of an agreement over its nuclear program. In Iran, all banks are integrated into one unitary clearance system, called Shetab, which means Iyzico’s clients can sell to any card holder in the nation without establishing relationships with individual Iranian banks, Ozbugutu said.
Iyzico last year raised $6.2 million in a round led by the International Finance Corporation, or IFC, the investing arm of the World Bank. Its customers in Turkey include BMW, Allianz and online marketplace Sahibinden.com.

He made the remarks in inauguration ceremony for commissioning six solar power stations with capacity of totally 60 megawatts.
Upon new approach of Energy Ministry, purchasing price guaranteed for renewable electricity is very attractive and foreign investors consider it as one of the best prices in the world, he said.
He said that generating one megawatt solar energy will create job for 5 and half persons directly and indirectly and this type of energy will has noticeable effect to remedy environmental degradation and save water consumption.
Mohammadnejad said that currently Iran has the potential for generating 30,000 megawatts renewable electricity by wind power.
He said that provinces of Kerman, Yazd and central part of Iran are among the most noticeable regions for investment in supplying renewable electricity.
The official said that it is possible to use photovoltaic systems to generate necessary energy as well as generating income for different regions of the country.
Kerman province by having 320 sunny day annually and adequate wind in many regions has appropriate situation for generating solar and wind energies.

He made the remarks at inauguration ceremony for opening Russian National Tourism Office at Russia Embassy in Tehran.
He said that Iranian tourists could only visit a limited number of Russian cities in the past, but, opening the Office will serve the Iranian tourists to visit other parts of Russia as well including Crimea.
Head of Russia’s State Agency for Tourism Oleg Safonov expressed pleasure with opening Russian Tourism Office and appreciated Iranian officials for close cooperation on tourism.
He said that Iran is a secure, friendly country with longstanding background and that the Russian Tourism Office will provide enough information for Iranian tourists about different tourist sites in Russia.
Deputy Head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization for tourism affairs Morteza Rahmani Movahhed said opening the Russian Tourism Office paved the way for development of cooperation between Iran and Russia and thanked Russian embassy for taking such big step to develop tourism.
He said that preparatory works for opening Iran’s national tourism bureau in Russia is underway and hopefully it will open in a few months.

Iran’s Deputy Minister for Transport, Roads and Urban Development and President of Iranian Railways Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei made the welcome remarks in a ceremony held to celebrate the arrival of a cargo train with the presence of China and Turkmenistan ambassadors.

Arrival of the first cargo train to Iranian capital, Tehran means revival of the Silk Road, he added.

If the cargo was transported via sea, it would take at least 30 days but it took less than two weeks through the Silk Road, the official said.

The first cargo train that left China almost a fortnight ago arrived in Tehran on Monday morning.

Iran’s media reported on Sunday that the train has already entered the country through the northeastern Sarakhs border point.

It is carrying 32 containers each with a capacity of 40 square feet and has passed through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan before reaching Iran.

The train left China from the trading hub of Yiwu in the northwestern province of Xinjiang on 29 January. Its trip plan was to cover a distance of over 10,000 kilometers within 14 days.

This will be part of a Chinese initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road through which traders traveled from Europe to East Asia.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced the new ‘Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Maritime Silk Road’ initiative to connect stronger logistics networks with Asia, Africa and Europe by building more roads, railways and airports.

Beijing has launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with $100 billion in capital and the New Silk Road Fund with a capital of $40 billion to fund major infrastructure projects in the region, including those pertaining to the development of the New Silk Road.

Iran is strategically-located in the Middle East, sharing land borders with 15 nations, and sea channels on its northern and southwestern coasts. China sees Iran as a country that can play a crucial role in China’s New Silk Road initiative given its access to extensive delivery routes connecting the Middle East and Eurasia.

Tehran has already pledged to support the New Silk Road initiative with an investment of $6 billion for the next six years, the Chinese media have reported.

The Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum, or JCCP, made the decision following the recent lifting of economic sanctions on Tehran.
The center began sending engineers to the Middle East in 1981 after Japan was hit by an oil crisis. They provided technical cooperation in oil refining and distribution.
But the JCCP stopped dispatching personnel to Iran in 2010 after the West stepped up economic sanctions on the country over its peaceful nuclear program.
The center plans to send about 10 experts from wholesalers and engineering companies to Iran in May.
The economic sanctions made it difficult for Iran to carry out repair work on oil refineries because of shortages of imported material.
The center says the Japanese engineers will provide assistance with environmental measures and improving safety.
The center says it hopes that closer relations with Iran will help Japan develop resources and improve its energy security.

EU has chosen and introduced Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology as its coordinator for scientific and technology cooperation with Iranian specialized centers.
Deputy Head of IROST for international affairs Mahmoud Moulanejad said that the EU has declared 22 issues for scientific and technology cooperation with Iran and asked IROST for coordination in these fields.
He said that they will explore cooperation in the fields of nano-technology, bio-technology, agriculture, aerospace, finance, small and medium-sized enterprises, research on future, legal aspects of science and technology, new emerging technology, the information and communications technology, entrepreneurship, health and social welfare, food security and the marine research studies.
The roadmap and programs drawn up by 22 Iranian organizations and research centers for cooperation with the EU, will be presented tomorrow.
Moulanejad said that the first joint project between Iran and EU in the framework of joint venture cooperation will be ‘Food for future’.

According to IRISL public relations department, the MoU was signed during the recent visit of IRISL managing director to Hamburg, in Germany and the officials of the PWL shipping lines.
Based on the new MoU, IRISL will be benefited from a number of services in the ports of countries in north Europe such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The MoU will be implemented from early March.

Zangeneh made the remarks at the board meeting of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC).

Zangeneh anticipated that the value of produced petrochemical products would hit 18 billion dollars by end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2016). He added that by next Iranian year oupt is expected to hit 22 billion dollars.

Zangeneh underscored that the NPC should properly prepare the infrastructures for the entry of the private sector to boost the productivity.

On assigning Marziyeh Shahdaei as NPC new managing director who replaced Abbas Shari-Moqaddam, Zangeneh said that he opposes gender discrimination and that Shahdaei has established a successful background during her service in the company functioning as the director of projects.

The Iranian delegation is to visit Germany at the invitation of economic activists in German state of Bavaria.

Located in southeast of Germany, Bavaria is the largest state in that country.

Tehran’s German visit is aimed at boosting bilateral economic relations and attending various related meetings with the German business community.

During the past years, before removal of anti-Iran sanctions on January 16, Iran and Germany experienced a slump in trade ties.

January 16 was announced the ‘Implementation Day’ for the July nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) coincided with the removal of sanctions.

Implementation of the JCPOA has prepared the ground for Western countries, Germany in particular, to speedily resume ties with Iran.

After the termination of anti-Iranian sanctions many international companies had announced readiness for presence in Iranian petrochemical industries and held talks with concerned Iranian officials, which are leading to signing of agreements over the past couple of days.
Last week for instance the new Managing Director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Marziyeh Shahedayie announced intensive talks with the German BASF Company on finalizing a four billion euro investment in Iran.
The Persian Gulf Holding Company, which is a subsidiary to the NPC, has signed the one billion euro MOU with Italy’s Maire Tecnimont Group.
The Marie Tecnimont Group is a leading provider of engineering and construction, technology and licensing, and energy business development worldwide, with a specific focus on oil and gas, petrochemicals and fertilizer processing industries.
They offer a wide range of services on an individual or combined basis for a broad range of facilities and applications, including engineering services, procurement of material and equipment, and construction services through project management expertise.
Iran produces 60 million tons of petrochemical products annually and is planning to increase its output to 180 million tons by 2025.
In order to achieve that goal the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has estimated the need for absorbing some seven to ten billion dollars of investments each year, the major part of which should come through foreign sources.
Shahedayie had earlier told IRNA that the companies that prior to the finalization of the JCPOA had begun talks with Iran on cooperation in petrochemical industries have come to Iran to finalize those talks.
The NPC managing director referred to Germany’s Lindh Company and the Japanese Mitsui Company which have announced readiness to invest in some Iranian petrochemical projects including Damavand Petrochemical Project.
She said that those two Japanese and German companies will invest four billion dollars in Iranian petrochemical projects although the contracts with them have not been finalized yet.