Speaking on the sidelines of the 12th International Energy Exhibition, titled KISH ENEX 2016, Afkham Zarvani said that the sum will be obtained in five years out of the National Development Fund, popular resources as well as finances.

‘We will need over $200 billion investment in our development projects, mainly in the oil sector, within the next five years,’ Zarvani said.

Noting that Iran has the experience of attracting some $26 billion investment in a year in National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC), Zarvani said that if the NIOPDC succeeds in attracting $20 billion investments each year, the amount will exceed to $100 billion in five years.

‘At present, there are 67 petrochemical projects across the country, 37 of which are prioritized,’ the official said, adding, ‘If we assume a 500-million-dollar investment for each one of these projects, more than $20 billion will be attracted.’

The gas sector, including pipelines and refinery reservoirs, will also need some $25 billion investment, Zarvani said.

He said that attracting $200 billion in five years is within the reach.

He said: “Having omitted Turkey and European countries from their markets, Russians are now showing keen interest for joint cooperation with Iran, and for this reason, we now have a golden opportunity to present Iranian goods in Russia in the best possible way.”
Noting that Iran’s current share of trade with Russia is very insignificant, he added “given the recent visit of Russian President Putin to Iran and the Russians’ keen interest for having Iranian products in their markets, now is the perfect time for Iran to maintain a strong foothold in Russian market.”
Under the agreement signed between Iran and Russia, trade turnover between the two countries can be increased up to 20 billion USD, Mirchegini said in an MNA report.
He went on to add that currently trade tariffs for Iranian goods import stands at 18-20 percent, while in some cases they would even reach 35 percent; “given the fact that the two countries’ most senior officials have called for expansion of economic ties, it is very likely that trade tariffs between Iran and Russia would see a considerable reduction.”
Iran will be holding a socialized exhibition in Moscow from 11-13 May, 2016 in order to introduce its domestically produced goods to Russian markets.
The exhibition will put on display a wide range of Iranian products including foodstuff, technical and engineering services, tourism, hand-woven carpets, medicine, urban services and building materials.

Talking to IRNA on Saturday, Director General of Oil Ministry for OPEC and Oil Forums Mehdi Asali said Iran intends to increase crude production and exports by 500,000 barrels per day after the removal of sanctions with the intention to stop plunging oil prices.

Commenting on rumors that Iran is backing from its previous plans to increase its output and export volume, he said Tehran is thinking of no such alteration in its policies.

As Iranian oil industry officials have repeatedly stressed before, he said, Iran is capable of promptly raising its production and export capacities after the removal of sanctions.

He said Iran is planning to increase its oil production and export level by 500 thousand barrel until it reaches the objective of two million barrels of exports.

Iran has already made it clear that it is planning to increase the volume of its crude oil output to one million barrels per day in two stages.

Iran was allowed to export one million barrels a day during the sanction years to China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.

The Iranian oil ministry has reiterated willingness to regain its oil position in the global oil market including in Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

However, certain analysts scattered the rumor that following the drop in oil prices in world markets Iran is to change its position.

They claimed Iran is going to increase its oil production and export volumes in a gradual manner to avoid a war of prices among producing countries.

On Tuesday, Reuters interviewed an oil ministry official on the issue.

Iran would not offer further discounts to draw customers into its oil market, Mohsen Qamsari, director general for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) told Reuters by telephone.

He also said, ‘We will be more subtle in our approach and may gradually increase output. We don’t want to start a sort of a price war.

‘I have to say that there is no room to push prices down any further, given the level they are.’

Overproduction, chiefly by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producers, has currently led to an excess of up to 2.5 million bpd in the market which has caused crude prices to lose around 60 percent of their value since mid-2014.

OPEC introduced output ceiling of 30 million bpd in its December 2011 meeting as it scrapped allocating fixed production quotas to member countries. The group, however, has been producing nearly a million more barrels than its ceiling for the past 16 months.

According to Tehran-based English newspaper, Iran Daily, in addition to bringing substantial earnings to the country – which contribute to flourishing domestic economy and help generate more jobs – tourists act as cultural ambassadors for introducing the real image of Iran to the world.

According to statistics released by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, international tourism revenues stood at $1,250 billion in 2013.

Iran’s share of international tourism revenue was $6.5 billion in 2013, which is very insignificant given its numerous historical and natural attractions.

Iran is among the top 10 countries in terms of the number of historical attractions. The country is the fifth most attractive destination when it comes to natural wonders.

The country has set a goal to attract 20 million tourists by 2025 to achieve the objectives of its Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan and raise the country’s tourism revenues by $30 billion.

But the question is what measures Iran can take to attain such objective.

Pilgrims make up the largest number of arrivals. Therefore, places of pilgrimage must be renovated.

Tourism facilities and accommodations are recommended to be expanded in the vicinity of such places to cater for tourists.

To Increase the number of tourists who are interested in historical and natural attractions, Iran needs to take the following steps:

More hotels

There are 1,100 hotels in Iran, 650 of which are hotel-apartments and 130 are four- and five-star hotels.

Iran needs 400 more hotels to be able to host 20 million foreign tourists by 2025.

Marketing

Iran needs to publicize its natural and historical attractions internationally to foil certain malevolent media outlets’ attempts which aim to tarnish the image of Iran’s tourism industry.

Iran’s tourism potentials are still unknown for many people around the world blamed on poor publicizing. Shanzelize Street in Paris embraces tourism offices from 40 countries, which seek to draw the attention of visitors to the tourism attractions of those nations. Iran does not have such an office there.

Turkey spent nearly $100 million for publicizing its attractions last year.

Air transportation

More tourism demands are expected in the future, as a result of the removal of anti-Iran sanctions. Therefore, Iran needs to improve the quality of aerial transportation and increase the number of flights.

There are about 250 airplanes in Iran, with an average age of 22 years. One-third of the planes are grounded and unable to offer services.

Iran needs 400 new airplanes by the next 10 years.

Manpower

More than 10,000 tourist guides, who can speak English fluently, are needed, if Iran wants to cater for 20 million tourists by 2025.

Hotels, historical attractions, accommodation centers and airports need such high-quality workforces.

There are several other measures that can lead to increase the number of arrivals including easing visa restrictions and providing tourists with the chance of visiting Iranian cities without visa. Improving the quality of roads, and revising some of laws and regulations are also helpful in increasing the number of tourists. Iran should increase its participation in international fairs as well.

The 27th International Tourism Exhibition and Related Industries that will be held in Tehran during Feb. 16-19 is an opportunity to introduce investment opportunities in the tourism field to investors.

Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said Monday that “Iran is a very promising market,” according to AFP.
“Today it’s more than one million cars, it has the potential to go to 1.5 or 2 million,” he made the comments on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show yesterday.
“We’re ready to go, but we want to go in a way which is sustainable,” Ghosn told reporters.
“You don’t want to go too precipitously and create for ourselves a bigger problem than we need. So I think yes, lots of potential in Iran, but still the timing is going to need to be politically correct and completely clear from a legal point of view.”
Iran and permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (P5+1) came to a historic conclusion last July after rounds of marathon talks over the country’s nuclear program.
The agreement, aka Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), stipulated that anti-Iran sanctions would be removed in exchange for the country to cut back on its nuclear activities.
Now as the planned date for JCPOA implementation draws near, with some saying as many as days away, foreign firms have doubled efforts to win a lion share in Iran’s lucrative post-sanctions market.
The latest report indicates that rate of car ownership in Iran is just 100 per 1,000 people, six times less than in Europe, and consumers have had limited access to new vehicles.
It said Renault’s French rival PSA Peugeot Citroen, which left Iran in 2012 as a result of the sanctions, is already involved in “intense discussions” with its former partner Iran Khodro over creating a new joint enterprise.
The French carmaker reportedly signed an accord in October to distribute its luxury brand DS in Iran.

‘This is despite the fact that market indices, including supply and demand, speak of a bearish market in the coming months,’ Mohsen Qamsari, head of international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), told Shana.

He said, ‘External factors are manipulating global crude oil markets that have long proved defiant of economic indices.’

‘Many expected to witness a rise in prices following the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen, but it never took place, indicating that the market is being controlled by external factors,’ he said.

Debunking official price predictions as unreliable, he said estimations hold that the prices might vary from $20 to $60 per barrel of crude oil.

‘The predictions are directional and favor the interests of those who pay for the market analyses,’ Qamssari said.

Given the excessive supply of crude oil in the market, one cannot expect the prices to grow, he argued.

‘I have never believed that the prices were real during the 5 or 6 years that they exceeded $100 per barrel. In fact, the prices were meant to be kept at such high levels for reasons we can discuss for hours.’

On January 21 Mahan Air will launch direct flights between Moscow and Tehran with a frequency of one flight per week, Sanaei said in a Russian-language blog post on Livejournal, according to Sputnik.
The envoy said the number of flights would rise to two per week starting on February 20 – with flights leaving for Tehran every Monday and Thursday.
Sanaei said relations between Russia and Iran were on the rise. This is reflected by an increase in air traffic between the two countries.
Last year, Iran’s national flag carrier Iran Air resumed flights to Russia after a long hiatus.
Sputnik also quoted Sanaei as saying that Iran could “unilaterally abolish visa regime” for tourists arriving in the country from Russia.
This is while the Foreign Ministry in Tehran has said it will scrap visa requirements only for countries willing to reciprocate.
Iran currently issues airport visa to citizens of all, except 10 countries: Colombia, Somalia, Britain, Canada, USA, Bangladesh, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has waived visa requirements for residents of seven countries, including Azerbaijan, Syria, Turkey, Georgia, Bolivia, Egypt and Lebanon.

In an interview with IRNA on the sidelines a conference of the head of Iraqi chambers of commerce, Fazel al-Hamdami said that the entire pressure imposed by the West, particularly the United States during the past decades has been due to their fear of Iran expanding its hegemony in the region, while the Iranians’ wisdom urged them to yield to Iran’s will.

‘Iran is today not only a powerful country in the region and the world, but a world power benefiting from A to Z of the nuclear technology,’ he said, which ‘will in near future turn into an economic superpower.’

Hamdani said that Iran’s voice will from now on be heard louder, including in the economic field both in the region and in the world.

The head of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce Syndicate, meanwhile, predicted that Iran will be playing a great mediating role in resolving the regional crises from now on.

He added that Iraq will never forget Iran’s assistance in its campaign against terrorism and will therefore remain by Iran’s side as an economic and trade partner.

Akhundi made the remarks in a meeting attended by several Iranian officials of aviation industry.

He also expressed hope that after implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran’s aviation industry could be expanded.

‘After implementation of JCPOA, the Iranian airline companies should have a proper planning for renovation of their fleet,’ he added.

Several months ago, Akhoundi said Iran has serious plans to use the opportunities that the last week’s breakthrough in nuclear talks with P5+1 has provided to promote its domestic airline industry.

He stressed that comprehensive renovation plans have already been devised for the country’s flag-carrier airliner Iran Air as well as the leading private-sector aviation company Iran Aseman Airlines.

Akhoundi said the renovation plans for Iran Air and Iran Aseman Airlines will be carried out by using the export credits that Western states allocate to major plane makers as well as other related mechanisms such as the wet and dry leasing.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries- the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany- announced agreement on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after marathon talks in Vienna this past Tuesday.

Based on the JCPOA, some sanctions against Iran will be lifted in return for the country’s steps to limit certain aspects of its nuclear energy program. A key part of the sanctions that are to be lifted are those that target Iran’s aviation industry.

According to Press TV, Iranian officials have said the county will need 400-500 civilian aircraft worth at least $20 billion in the next decade to renovate its aging fleet which has suffered under years of US and European sanctions.

Major aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus have already indicated intention to start selling planes to Tehran.

In a meeting in the German capital of Berlin on Saturday, Iranian Agricultural Jihad Minister Mahmoud Hojjati and German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt signed the MoU to enhance the two sides’ cooperation in various spheres of agriculture, including research, education and agribusiness.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hojjati emphasized that for the past two years, Iran and Germany have paved the grounds for closer cooperation between public and private sectors of the two sides through “good planning”.
“Today, we can witness the two countries’ extensive cooperation in diverse areas of agriculture ahead of the implementation of the JCPOA (Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers),” the Iranian minister noted.
The remarks come ahead of a joint statement by Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) expected later today.
Earlier on Friday, a senior Iranian diplomat had said that “good news” will shortly be published on implementation of the deal finalized back in July 2015.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as E3+3 and P5+1) on July 14, 2015, reached a conclusion on a 159-page nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
Afterwards, the 15-memebr United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that endorsed the JCPOA.
According to the UNSC Resolution 2231, all previous UNSC sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program will be terminated when the JCPOA takes effect.