Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Spanish businessmen ranked the first in the list of main foreign investors to the Islamic Republic of Iran in December 2015 – December 2016 period.

The volume of Spanish investments amounted to $3.2 billion in the reported period. The runner-up is Germany with the volume of investments standing at $2.9 billion.

However, Spanish investments were directed to the implementation of one project, while German investors allocated funds for the implementation of 17 different projects.

The total volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the economy of the Iran, the second largest economy in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia, stood at $11.8 billion within the implementation of 113 projects.

Petroleum Minister of Iran Bijan Zanganeh earlier said that the largest amount of investment, which amounts to some $200 billion is required for the oil industry, including $130 billion in the upstream segment.

Iranian authorities have adopted a comprehensive strategy encompassing market-based reforms as reflected in the government’s 20-year vision document and the sixth five-year development plan for the 2016-2021 period.

Real GDP growth is projected to reach 4.8 percent in 2017 due to the lifting of the sanctions and a more business-oriented environment, according to the World Bank.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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