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Confidence on both sides of the table: Dr. Ansari and Giorgio Tellini shake hands over further insurance and assurance

Mobarakeh Steel Complex, Almahdi Aluminum Smelter, Tabas Coal Plant and Khouzestan Steel Company enjoy priority on SACE’s coverage list

Steel projects, aluminum plants, Tehran-Qom-Isfahan Express, L/Cs, investment risk rating and Iran-Italy trade ties were all discussed around the table as Giorgio Tellini, director general of Italy’s state insurance company SACE, met with the deputy minister of mines and metals and secretary of Iran-Italy Joint Economic Commission Dr. Mohammad Taghizadeh Ansari.
Attended by representatives of Iran-Italy Joint Chamber of Commerce, IRALCO, Irasco, and National Iranian Steel Industries Co. (NISCO), the session aimed for prioritizing the Iranian projects that required SACE’s coverage in closing deals with Italian partners.
A veteran banker and senior SACE official, Tellini remembers the hardships of rescheduling the Iranian debts through a slump in oil prices. Having passed the crisis, Italy’s SACE covered $1 billion of financial commitments while issuing 9 investment guarantees for Iran in the first half of 2000.
Giorgio Tellini’s presence in Iran was another indication of SACE’s willingness to expedite Iran-Italy trade. SACE director general was in Iran to consider $3 billion of joint investment to be completed and guaranteed in the coming months. “Iran will have a significant place in our policies this year. This is demonstrated by the fact that one-third of all our guarantees go for Iranian projects. In its relations with Iran, SACE favors a continued trend.” Tellini also predicted that in the second half of 2001, the time is ripe for Iran’s application to be elevated in the investment risk ranking from 5th to 4th.
Dr. Ansari, in turn, appreciated SACE’s support for Iran-Italy deals and its contribution to Iran’s promotion from the 6th to the 5th ranking of investment risk. As the secretary of Iran-Italy Joint Chamber of Commerce, he called for the continued support of SACE and Italian banks for small and medium industries of Iran with the priority of mines, metals, oil, petrochemical and power projects. The Commission, he informed, had arranged five categories for Iran-Italy cooperation namely Urban Development, Stone Processing, Conversion Industries, Textile & Leather Industries and Small & Medium Industries.
Deputy minister of mines and metals further listed a number of projects in line for SACE coverage that included: development of Mobarakeh Steel Complex, Tabas Coal, Khouzestan Steel Company’s wide plates production line, and Almahdi Aluminum Smelter.
But Italy’s SACE is not the only West European insurance coverage that Iranian industries are enjoying these days. Standing at 1 billion marks, Germany’s HERMES coverage for Iran grew five folds through President Khatami’s recent official visit to Germany. Some call it the fruit of détente.