Western businesses are jockeying for investment opportunities in Iran as the country regains access to the global financial system following the lifting of sanctions at the weekend.
Russian investment firm Renaissance Capital has described Iran as “the last remaining sizeable global economy cut off from international capital to reopen”. The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said on Sunday that 150 companies from 50 countries had recently visited Iran for investment.
Local media quoted Abbas Akhondi, the minister for roads and urban development, as saying that Iran had struck a deal with the French companyAirbus for the purchase of 114 new planes, estimated to be worth more than $10bn (£7bn). On Monday the German automotive firm Daimler said it had signed letters of understanding with local partners to return its truck business to Iran, six years after sanctions interrupted its activity. Iran has a huge car market and French manufacturers including Peugeot and Renault are also considering a comeback.
International business leaders mulling ways to sell their products in the Middle East’s second largest economy have already embarked on fact-finding missions. But the lifting of sanctions, which came into effect on Saturday after the implementation of last summer’s landmark nuclear deal, gives the business community the green light to exchange money. Iranian banks have also reconnected to the European financial system via Swift, which facilitates international transactions.
Germany, France and Italy are leading the pack as Europe aims to increase trade with Iran from the current level of €7.6bn (£5.8bn) to the pre-sanctions figure of almost €28bn.
In the short to medium term, China’s president, Xi Jinping, is to visit Tehran next week, and the British chancellor, George Osborne, and Germany’s economy minister, Sigmar Gabriel, are planning to take trade delegations to Iran in May. Rouhani is expected in Rome and Paris soon. .
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