The regulation for allowing foreign investors will be passed by the High Council of Bourse within two months.

In about two months time foreigners will be able to make direct purchases on shares on Iran’s stock market. Furthermore the preparations have been made to facilitate the entry of the shares of Iran’s major companies in the foreign stock markets of Bahrain and Istanbul.

These new initiatives are the result of a regulation which allows foreigners to purchase up to 10% of the total shares circulating the market. This limitation is said to be put in place as a means of controlling the forex rate. Another feature of the new regulation is that the foreign shareholder can leave with his investment and profits which exceed 10% after five years.

Dr. Hussein Abdoh Tabrizi, Secretary General of Tehran Stock Exchange, believes that the regulation for allowing foreign investors in Iran’s stock market will be passed by the High Council of Bourse within two months. In addition, he highlighted the agreements recently reached between the stock exchanges of Tehran and Bahrain. The agreement allows the trade of the shares of some major Iranian companies in the Bahraini Stock Exchange. There are also further plans to allow for the trade of Bahraini shares in Tehran’s Stock Exchange. However, the amount of shares that can be sold in Bahrain’s Stock Exchange is restricted to 10% of the company’s share.

On a different note, the metals bourse was officially inaugurated in Sharif Street of Ferdowsi Avenue on 16 September 2003. The inaugural ceremony was attended by a number of executives, experts, directors of metal production companies, governor of the Central Bank of Iran as well as ministers of economy and finance; industries and mines; and commerce. In this way, the metals bourse was finally opened after almost four years of ups and downs. First, the Bourse Council was permitted to establish a commodity bourse according to Article 95 of the Third Economic Development Plan Law in 2000. Afterwards and according to the Budget Law for 2001, Ministry of Industries and Mines was obliged to establish a metals bourse. However, it took three years before the metals bourse became operational to materialize the will of the Bourse Council. Finally, on 17 April 2003, the metals bourse was registered as a non-profit, governmental bureau and was officially inaugurated on 16 September. Therefore, from now on and for the first time in the country, dealings in three important metals, namely steel, copper and aluminum will be carried out in the metals bourse. Meanwhile, these metals have been excluded from the government’s pricing system.

During the three-hour inaugural ceremony, Minister of Industries and Mines, Esshaq Jahangiri, who symbolically represented producers and sellers, expressed hope that Iran could become a determining factor for setting regional metal prices.

"Per capita steel consumption in Iran stands at 140 kilograms, which is considerable compared to the corresponding 35 kilogram figure for neighboring countries. This indicates increased demand in neighboring countries and the need for increasing production in Iran. On the other hand, existence of huge iron ore deposits and having 5% of global copper reserves has given Iran a unique status for determining price of metals," he said.

Minister of Commerce Mohammad Shariatmadari, who represented consumers, emphasized more support for consumers, adding, "What I expect from the market is elimination of monopolies, reducing government’s interference, and paving the way for joining the World Trade Organization."

Minister of Economy and Finance Tahmaseb Mazaheri declared his expectations from the metals bourse as promoting healthy, transparent activity and controlling dealings in metals, saying, "The capital market is a key tool for economic development as well as increased investment and production in the country."

Deputy chairman of metals bourse for economic and international affairs opined that inauguration of the metals bourse was to the benefit of governmental factories, adding, "The metals bourse does not aim to disrupt the market or cause problems for traders, but it aims to help governmental factories get rid of government’s circulars and approvals for determining prices, pave the way for competition and develop private factories and boost their productivity. Therefore, today is a good day because all metals accepted through the bourse will be excluded from pricing policies of the government. Meanwhile, producers and consumers will be provided with an opportunity to enforce risk management independently and away from any outside interference."

The member of Bourse Council stated that structure of the metals bourse was similar to its counterparts in London and Chicago. "Prosperity of metals bourse needs innovation and hard work. We have a long way to go because Iran has never had such a consolidated capital market." He noted that there has been no secondary specialized market in the country before and the Central Bank of Iran has always dominated Iran’s capital market.