Iranian Rial

screwball · December 10, 2016

Lol...If approved by the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), the change will empower Iran's currency.

screwball · December 10, 2016

TEHRAN, Dec. 10 (MNA) – A strong 590-member Iran-Russia 3-day commission will address effective implementation of Putin-Rouhani strategy to boost bilateral trade.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA report said that the commission would be unprecedented in recent years by Iran and Russia; the 13th joint commission will be headed by Iran’s Mahmoud Vaezi, Minister of Information Technology and Russia’s Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy, who will arrive in Tehran along his entourage on Sunday, among whom are important entrepreneurs.

Russian quota in the economic commission is 270 participants and a workgroup will address issues in energy and telecommunications, new opportunities in sectors, and implementation of past agreements; Iran’s ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Senaei had already negotiated with Novak construction by Russian contractors of Bandar Abbas thermal power plant worth € 1.29bn, along with other projects which included metrology, standardization, good quality assessment, and other projects of private sector.

The joint commission will also establish the first ever joint energy commission to bolster ties in the energy sector.

Tehran session will also seek to make efficient the legal and official frameworks of bilateral cooperation; on the sidelines of the event, a 1-day session of tradesmen and heads of 200 companies will meet, where Russia will participate with 320 members, which will make the session the greatest ever such congregation of businessmen in the history of bilateral relations.

Russia has on agenda to accelerate its trade cooperation with Iran and to raise the trade volume to annual staggering figure of $ 4bn; experts in Moscow would see that prospect bright, since Iran provides low-cost transportation which at the same time diverse; in 2015, Novak chaired in Moscow a strong 70-member Iranian delegation meeting where they signed deals in trade, power plant building, railroad, power and electricity worth $ 40bn.

With Rouhani having assumed the power, there has been a giant leap forward in bilateral trade and economic ties culminated since then; both countries saw a low point of a little more than $ 1bn in 2013.

screwball · December 11, 2016

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Morteza Mirmohammadi

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Business & Markets Desk

Options are making their final approach toward Iranian securities markets.

Contracts that allow you to buy the right to sell or buy a commodity at a future date have overcome all regulatory obstacles and will be launched for the first time in Iran in a month.

Designed to comply with Islamic law, they will make their debut on Iran Mercantile Exchange. Their introduction is another key step in Iran's shift towards a market economy.

"Options will first become available on Emami gold coins, which already have a booming futures trade on IME," Hamed Soltannejad, IME's chief executive, told ILNA.

The coin is the benchmark for gold trading in Iran. Their futures are traded on IME while their spot trade is done in Tehran among bureaux de change overseen by the Central Bank of Iran.

Options have been an essential part of the world economy for the past four decades. They are far older though. In London, puts and "refusals" (calls) became well-known trading instruments in the 1690s. But in Iran, they have only been studied in financial textbooks.

Even futures trading is recent in Iran, let alone options. Futures, which allow investors to buy commodities and securities at a future date, were launched in Iran nine years ago. But it was not until the introduction of gold coin futures in 2007 that their trading got going.

In 2010, stock futures were launched but they have yet to catch the attention of investors. In contrast, the Chicago Board of Trade listed the first-ever standardized "exchange traded" forward contracts in 1864, which were called futures contracts.

Alireza Nasserpour, IME's deputy for derivatives development, says gold options trading will start within a month, Boursepress reported.

"The options will first be traded through brokers and their online trading will come later when volume picks up," Soltannejad said.

They will be traded through existing platforms and do not require new permits or trading codes.

These options will be European style, meaning they can only be exercised at expiration, contrary to American style options that can be exercised any time from their sale up to the option's expiration.

Iran's capital markets are rapidly expanding. Bearishness in stock markets has redoubled the conviction of the regulator to speed up the process of introducing newer financial products to draw in money into securities markets.

IME is taking the lead in expanding the portfolio of financial instruments available to investors this year.

Soltannejad said IME is setting up an exchange for offering foreign exchange futures to help Iranian companies and foreign investors hedge against foreign exchange fluctuations.

The company, along with the Securities and Exchange Organization, is in talks with the Central Bank of Iran to work out the details for dollar/rial futures.

IME has already drawn up contracts and offered schedules for the foreign exchange futures, said Soltannejad last month.

screwball · December 11, 2016

Securities and Exchange Organization, is in talks with the Central Bank of Iran to work out the details for dollar/rial futures.

interestng...

screwball · December 11, 2016

The government will this week review the building of 200,000 housing units as part of the Social Housing Plan, announced a deputy of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.

Hamed Mazaherian added that the plan includes measures to improve homeownership among the lowest income decile of the population.

The Social Housing Plan is used to refer to all measures taken by the government to provide homes for low-income families, such that all schemes implemented since the 1979 Islamic Revolution such as lease-to-own or rental assistance programs and Mehr Housing Plan fall under social housing, Fars News Agency reported.

The deputy minister responded to criticism about the vagueness surrounding the plan, as three years have passed since President Hassan Rouhani came to office and the Social Housing Plan, which was supposedly a replacement for the controversial Mehr Housing Plan–started by the previous administration–has not gotten off the ground.

Mazaherian said the current government has prioritized the completion of Mehr Housing Plan, “that’s why all the budget and resources have been allocated so that the project can come to a conclusion sooner and other [affordable housing] schemes, which aim to support low-income families, can be implemented.

Mehr Housing Plan was facing major funding problems when the administration of President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013 and became a major quandary for the government struggling with a mountain of economic challenges. The scheme has also been criticized for lacking the infrastructure needed for offering a reasonable standard of living.

Noting that all the components of Social Housing Plan are in line with local and international experience, the deputy minister announced that the plan will be discussed in Cabinet meetings during the current week.

“These measures aim to build 200,000 housing units as part of the Social Housing Plan. Its agent entity is the Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution and it will be dedicated to providing homes for people in the lower income groups,” he said.

Answering a question about whether the Iranian housing market will quit recession this year, the official said statistics show that the number of housing deals has been on the rise since the beginning of the current year (started March 20) and price hikes have been “below the inflation rate”.

When such a trend has appeared in the eight months that have passed since the start of the current Iranian year, Mazaherian said it is the consensus of experts that the housing sector is on the threshold of recovery.

“I believe that this trend will continue toward the end of the current month (Dec. 20) and the volume of real-estate deals will keep on rising in the last three months of the year,” he said.

pokerplayer · December 11, 2016

1 hour ago, screwball said:

Securities and Exchange Organization, is in talks with the Central Bank of Iran to work out the details for dollar/rial futures.

interestng...

This is very Interesting and worth watching. Read between the lines people. Something soon is going to happen.

pp

WheresmyRV? · December 11, 2016

We are so close people!! :backflip:

screwball · December 11, 2016

Iranian delegation headed by Mohammad Nahavandian (C) is working to further banking ties with Sweden.

Economy
Business And Markets

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Banking Ties With Sweden to Expand

Iran’s presidential chief of staff proposed that the Central Bank of Iran open an account with the Swedish National Bank in his recent meeting with the Nordic country’s finance minister.

“Opening an account for the CBI with the SNB would be a practical and effective step for facilitating economic ties between the two countries and I hope it will be done as soon as possible,” Mohammad Nahavandian was also quoted as saying by IBENA.

Referring to Iran’s regional and geopolitical importance, the official noted that the country covers a wider 300-400 million strong market in its neighborhood and called for mutual ties with Sweden to “reach a stable stage with a comprehensive plan”.

Nahavandian pointed to the fact that Iran managed to keep its economy afloat and achieve a decent economic growth under harsh circumstances such as falling oil prices.

A young educated generation and an abundance of resources in Iran have created golden opportunities for the country’s economy, said Nahavandian, adding that the Iranian economy presents a positive landscape for developing mutual ties.

Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson also welcomed expansion of economic collaboration between the two countries, saying her nation values its ties with Iran greatly.

“Iran was Sweden’s biggest [regional] business partner before the sanctions and we must strive to revive these encompassing ties,” she added.

According to Andersson, many companies in Sweden are eager to start working with Iran and have been pressuring the government to prepare the grounds to expand economic ties.

“It is our goal to widen our relations with Iran both in political and economic spheres,” she said.

Welcoming Nahavandian’s proposal for the Iranian central bank to open an account with its Swedish counterpart also known as Riksbanken, Andersson added that there are good opportunities for investment and cooperation on both sides, which are being explored by her .

“To ease economic interaction between Iranian and Swedish companies, we will review the possibility of opening branches of Iranian banks in Sweden in addition to having a joint account,” she said.

Ties With Czech Republic

Iran’s Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia concluded his two-day visit to the Czech Republic on Thursday, during which he met with a number of officials from the Central European country, including its Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamacek and Central Bank Governor Jiri Rusnok as part of Iran-Czech Economic Commission in Prague.

Tayyebnia stressed the importance of increasing collaborations between the two countries in economic arenas, given Iran’s potentials in business, energy, industries and mines.

“Considering the history of positive efforts by Czech companies in Iran, we welcome investments in the aforementioned sectors,” he said.

He also demanded an increase in banking collaborations between the two countries as a prerequisite to the expansion of joint economic endeavors.

Tayyebnia also met with Czech National Bank Governor Jiri Rusnok, pointing to Czech officials’ interest in boosting trade with Iran.

Rusnok said his bank considers no restrictions for Czech banks to work with Iran, adding that they would “support banks and companies in doing business with Iran”.

In his remarks at the joint economic commission, Tayyebnia said trade and business transactions between Iran and the Czech Republic reached $52 million in 2015, “which is infinitesimal considering the high economic potentials and capacities of the two countries, which could reach $500 million by next year because of serious bilateral efforts and cooperation”.

screwball · December 11, 2016

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Sunday, December 11, 2016

Adopt Policies to support Trade, Ensure Benefits to All

The number of new trade-restrictive measures being introduced remains worryingly high given continuing global economic uncertainty

Director-General Roberto Azevedo’s annual overview of developments in the international trading system highlights the “persistent” global economic challenges in 2016 that continue to weigh on international trade.

The report, which was discussed at a December 9 meeting of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body, urges members to work together to ensure that the benefits of trade are more widely spread and better understood, Scoop reported.

The latest monitoring report shows WTO members introduced 182 new trade-restrictive measures for the reporting period covering mid-October 2015 to mid-October 2016, or an average of just over 15 measures per month. While this represents a decline compared to the average 20 measures per month introduced during 2015, the number of new trade-restrictive measures being introduced remains worryingly high given continuing global economic uncertainty and the WTO's downward revision of its trade forecasts.

The WTO is projecting a 1.7% increase in world merchandise trade volume in 2016, down from its earlier forecast of 2.8%. If this revised forecast is realized, this would mark the slowest pace of trade and output growth since the financial crisis of 2009.

The report calls on WTO members to work together to ensure that the benefits of trade are spread more widely and are better understood.

Azevedo said: “Trade restrictive measures can have a chilling effect on trade flows, with knock-on effects for economic growth and job creation. In the context of a challenging economic scenario, it is more important than ever that WTO members adopt policies which will support trade and ensure that its benefits reach as many people as possible.”

Key Findings

—This monitoring report for the reporting period between mid-October 2015 and mid October 2016 outlines the persistent challenges faced by the international economy in 2016 that continue to weigh on international trade flows. It shows that the continuing increase in the stock of trade-restrictive measures recorded since 2008 remains of concern.

—The latest reporting period shows a fall in the number of new trade restrictive measures introduced at just over 15 per month–a total of 182 for the reporting period. While this represents a reduction in the monthly figure compared to the recent peak in 2015, it is actually a return to the trend level for new trade restrictions since 2009.

—Of the 2,978 trade-restrictive measures recorded for WTO members since 2008, only 740 had been removed by mid-October 2016. The overall stock of measures has increased by almost 17% compared to the previous annual overview, with the total number of restrictive measures still in place now standing at 2,238. The rollback of trade-restrictive measures recorded since 2008 remains too slow and continues to hover just below 25%.

—During the review period, WTO members also applied 216 measures aimed at facilitating trade. At 18 new trade-facilitating measures per month, this represents a slight decrease over the previous report but remains above the 2009-2015 average.

—The monthly average of trade-remedy investigations by WTO members recorded for this exercise was found to be the highest since 2009. Moreover, the monthly average of trade remedy terminations is the lowest since the beginning of the monitoring exercise.

—The continued and persistent challenges faced by WTO members in the international economy and their consequences for world trade stress the need for WTO members to work together to resist protectionist pressures. The WTO will continue to provide a predictable, transparent and inclusive framework to assist members in this endeavor.

—WTO members must also work together to ensure that the benefits of trade are spread more widely and are better understood. A failure to make the case for inclusive trade could pave the way to increased protectionism in the future.

screwball · December 11, 2016

Petchem industry, successful model for Economy of Resistance

Tehran, Dec 10, IRNA – Iran possessing the world's biggest proven hydrocarbon reserves has a successful model of petrochemical industry to go ahead with Economy of Resistance by the incumbent government.

Facing such oil and gas rich states as its rivals in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, Iran is the world's second petrochemical power, having 25 percent share in general capacity of petrochemical products.

Despite restrictions over nuclear sanctions and primarily due to the eight-year (1980-88) imposed war, the industry is now vanguard of materialization of the Economy of Resistance and is considered as base of the country's self-sufficiency.

As the 24-point strategic and macro directives of the Economy of Resistance, drawn up by the Supreme Leader, was brought to the notice of the heads of the three branches of government on February 12, 2014, and following the Executive Branch of Power's issuance of an 11-point directive to the executive organs, the roadmap for development of the petrochemical industry in seven detailed volumes by the Ministry of Petroleum.

The document has specified the steps towards addressing the goals of the Economy of Resistance in the industry.

It should be noted that Economy of Resistance does not mean closing the doors or getting drawn in international isolation; rather, it means creating a dynamic atmosphere inside and using the domestic and foreign potential in line with the specified objectives. The prelude to the policies of Economy of Resistance asserts, 'With the goal of guaranteeing dynamic growth and improving indices of economy of resistance and to achieve the goals of the 20-Year Vision Plan, general policies of the Economy of Resistance with Jihadi, flexible, opportunity making, generative and progressive approach, are hereby issued.'

Besides content and general approach of the document, the articles 14 and 15 of the policies contain a series of phrases which explicitly highlighted the role of the oil, gas and petrochemical industry in the Economy of Resistance:

The Article 14 envisions increasing strategic oil and gas reserves of the country to influence the world oil and gas market, while emphasizing preservation and development of the capacity for production of oil and gas, especially in the joint fields.

This is while, the Article 15 foresees increasing the value-added through completion of the chain of value of the oil and gas industry, developing production of the goods with optimal return (based on the index of strength of energy consumption) and raising exports of electricity, petrochemical products and oil derivatives with an emphasis on protective and sustainable extraction from resources.

Consequently, the executive documents underline the need for development of the downstream petrochemical industry to put into operation and exploit new petrochemical units and increase the capacity for production and refining.

Iran's petrochemical production capacity stands at 45 million tons a year and following operation and exploitation of new units, the production is pegged at 130 million tons to 180 million tons a year by 2020 and 2025 respectively.

Deputy Minister of Petroleum for Petrochemical Affairs and Managing Director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Marzieh Shahdaie has put the country's current capacity for production of petrochemical products at 63 million tons a year.

She said that the capacity will reach 130 million tons by 2020 and 180 million tons by 2025 based on the plans made.

Shahdaie said that 19.1 million tons of petrochemicals are also to be exported and the figure will be as much as 65 million tons a year by 2020.

Meanwhile, Member of the Board of Directors of the NPC Farnaz Alavi said that capacity of Iranian petrochemical production will increase by 50 to 60 million tons in the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2016-21).

Alavi told Shana that $35 billion has been allocated for new petrochemical projects in the Sixth Plan and the budget has been defined for various phases based on various financial resources dedicated for the purpose. It depends on power of the investor in attracting foreign partners and international financial creditors.

She said that 50 to 60 million tons of increase in the production capacity is expected in the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan.

'Part of the products will be consumed by the units as basic products and about 40 to 50 percent of the total will be marketed inside and internationally as marketable final product.'

As the above-mentioned figures show, due to the value-added it creates from changing raw materials into processed substances, petrochemical sector is of considerable economic importance. Put it simply, the petrochemical chain starts from the current hydrocarbons in crude oil, gas condensates and natural gas and then turns into new chemical products after processing in chemical and petrochemical procedures. At the end, the downstream petrochemical industry turns the final products into goods and consumer products.

Any step of progress in the petrochemical industry will lead to stepwise decrease in crude sales. Per the policies of the Economy of Resistance, this is considered not only as an infrastructural value but also as final objective. Selling crude is never considered as an advantage and based on the theory of damning natural resources or the paradox of abundance, will entail adverse economic and social consequences.

Economists candidly say that even under the circumstances prepared for selling crude at prices times higher than the price for the processed goods, one should refuse doing it so that the value chain continues and maximum economic capacity is employed.

On this basis, the establishment of the Special Economic and Energy Zones to complete the chain of production of oil and gas industries will facilitate circulation of the value chain, reaping windfall income out of exports through increasing the value-added.

The Pars Special Energy and Economic Zone (PSEEZ) is one of the regions put into operation to extract, refine and process independent and joint gas resources.

The project for establishment of PSEEZ was approved by the Supreme Council of Free Trade Zones on October 9, 1998.

The region lies on northern coastline of the Persian Gulf, covering 46,000 hectares of land in Bushehr Province. The Pars I region (South Pars), covering 14,000 hectares of land, including Assaluyeh city, Pars II (Kangan) region, covering 16,000 hectares of land from Kangan city and Pars III (North Pars) region, covering 16,000 hectares of land around the cities of Dayyer, Tangestan and Bushehr.

South Pars region consists 16 phases for gas processing, 16 petrochemical facilities and downstream petrochemical industries and various related industries and semi-heavy industries. Pars II region includes eight refinery phases and an LNG project.

Pars III is also aimed to protect development project of certain key hydrocarbon fields. North Pars, Golshan, Ferdowsi and Farzad A and B gas fields also fall in the same zone.

On the issue, Director of the Public Relations Department at the Non-Industrial Operations Pars Pasargad Company (Assaluyeh site), affiliated to Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), Ali Hassanzadeh told a group of IRNA reporters visiting Assaluyeh Site that PSEEZ is the economic capital of Iran. In the area, gas is not only used as fuel for industrial facilities but for production of the downstream chemical products.

Assaluyeh site comprises such facilities as Sadaf Petrochemical Assaluyeh Company (SPAC) commissions a project for production of the environment friendly tire and asphalt polymer with well credited Italian Eni as its licensor. Jam Petrochemical Co. (JPC) produces olefin for the polyethylene market. Sasol Polymer Company having German Basel, French Technip and South African Sasol as its licensors and Bushehr petrochemical company (BUPC) is another such facility. All the facilities serve as complementary to the chain of petrochemical products in the region, addressing needs of the domestic and foreign markets through 15 chemical and container jetties in the vicinity.

In fact, the motto of 'Action and Implementation' is well reflected in the guideline of the Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who emphasized implementation of the policy of Economy of Resistance, designating the year 1395 as the year of the Economy of Resistance. This is well reflected in the chain of petrochemical production. This means that raw materials are turned into products and goods and sold in domestic and foreign markets, thus checking waste of domestic capital.

Director of the Public Relations Department at Arya Sasol Polymer Company, Faramarz Parizi, told IRNA reporter on the sidelines of the tour of IRNA reporters to Assaluyeh that the motto of 'Economy of Resistance: Action and Implementation' that was referred to in the new year message of the Supreme Leader, is fully reflected in his company.

Parizi said Arya Sasol has not only been successful to draw in domestic and foreign capital into the downstream and upstream industries, but also followed the outlook of skilled manpower training, thus no longer being in need of foreign consultants.
Undoubtedly, the huge and remarkable achievements and honors in the industry today are due to the round-the-clock services and hard-working of directors, engineers and workers, who managed to repel challenges and solve them gradually despite such problems as lack of insurance coverage, no money and equipment transfer, falling exports and disinterest of Iranian and foreign licensors to transfer technology to Iran.

With lapse of one year since signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and as the 11th government is in office, brighter prospect is ahead of the oil and gas industry and the requisite to achieve the targets is stronger support for the industry. Attraction of new domestic and foreign capital, using new technologies, renovation of equipment, training and recruiting specialized workforce, employing the locals, and enhancing the capacity along with production of new products will be possible through financial assistance and regulations, that part of which are accessible by new model of oil contracts.

If fundamentals of the Economy of Resistance are well observed in such inter-disciplinary courses as theorized economy of politics and applied industrial fields, one can use petrochemicals as a key to attain self-sufficiency and economic vibrancy of the country. The petrochemical industry has the potential to get rid of the deflationary inflationary conditions, provide creative and non-inflationary jobs, and even meet the targets of the strategic non-oil export development.

All the southern coastlines of our country provide God-given opportunity for economic and industrial development but just a tiny portion of the potential has been activated. Of course, the western half of the band in northern part of the Persian Gulf has attained considerable growth in the past couple of years. However, the eastern side in northern part of Oman Sea has not attained the progress it deserves. Development of Chabahar Port in far eastern bank of the band and operation of petrochemical facilities in the port, which is located in the Oman Sea, will guarantee further flourishment of the knowledge-based and entrepreneurship industry in the future.

To guarantee success of the policies of the Economy of Resistance, let's extend the successful strategy of petrochemical industry development, especially the experience with the PSEEZ, to other economic, commercial and industrial fields of our country.
By: Touraj Shiralilu, Deputy Director General IRNA Foreign News Department
Translator: Behnaz H. Gholipour
Editor: Safar Sarabi
1377**1420**1416

screwball · December 11, 2016

Sounds like a country that needs to remove one zero! Lol..

screwball · December 11, 2016

Compliance with global banking standards essential

By Sharif Nezam-Mafi

Nearly 11 months have passed since the implementation of last year's nuclear deal between Iran and the major world powers began.

The implementation of the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was expected to fully reintegrate the Islamic Republic's banking system into the world's banking system. Nonetheless, such expectations have not been completely fulfilled because Iran's banking system lags behind standards and international laws. Such woes, rather than Washington's obstructionism, have hindered efforts to boost the country's banking ties with the world.

Presently, compliance with Basel 4 regulations is a priority in the world's banking system. Nevertheless, one Iranian bank has only managed to meet Basel II regulations.

The Basel Accords refer to a set of recommendations for regulations in the banking industry —Basel I, Basel II and Basel III — issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The BCBS maintains its secretariat at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, and the committee normally meets there.

Basel 4 as it is dubbed by the financial industry is a proposed standard on capital reserves for banks to mitigate the risk of financial crisis. It is expected to follow the third Basel accords (Basel III), and would require more stringent capital requirements as well as greater financial disclosure.

Compliance with global standards is a key to promote ties with major international banks.

The imposition of anti-Iran sanctions over the past years impeded efforts to pave the way to conform to such standards. Iran's baking system did not have strong bonds with the world's banking system, which pushed Iran to depart from global banking standards.

However, the implementation of the JCPOA prompted Iranian officials to place compliance with such standards on the agenda.

The trips of government officials to foreign nations, particularly Switzerland, will help them find flaws in the country's banking system and correct them. Switzerland, which has provided stability as the center of the world's banking system, can help Iran's banking system reintegrate into the global network and remove obstacles.

Some of the major Swiss banks are not influenced by the US because their transactions are not dollar-based.

Hence, the promotion of banking ties between Bern and Tehran can be regarded as strategic cooperation.

To sum up, the establishment of global standards in the banking system is highly significant.

Besides, the election of Donald Trump as the next US president could pose a serious threat to the banking system. As a result, Iran should spare no effort to boost banking ties with foreign nations as soon as possible.

The initiation of relations with a major bank can serve as a ground- breaking measure which will encourage other large banks to expand ties with the Islamic Republic.

screwball · December 11, 2016

The Iranian mining sector requires close to $50 billion in foreign investment, said the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade. Mehdi Karbasian made the statement on the sidelines of the Second Iran Mines and Mining Industries Summit on Saturday, IRNA reported.

"About $30 billion of the figure will need to be invested in the steel industry and its downstream sectors, and the rest in copper, aluminum and other industries," added Karbasian, who is also the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization.

The summit, otherwise known as IMIS 2016, was attended by top government officials, including Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and Governor of Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif.

Foreign attendees at the two-day event include managing director of Germany’s SMS Group GmbH, Burkhard Dahmen; executive vice president of Finland’s Outotec, Kalle Harkki; and CEO of Russia’s JSC EXIAR, Alexey Tyupanov. The previous edition of the summit was held in May 2015.

screwball · December 11, 2016