During the past 10 months, $1.2 billion in foreign investments has been poured into the country, up by 3.5% compared to the average figures of the preceding years.

At the end of his trip to Italy, Director General for Foreign Investments at the Iranian Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ahmad Mortazavi, noted that attraction of foreign investments during the past 11 years has reached $3.5 billion and it would continue to grow as a result of policies adopted.

"Germany, England, and Italy top the list of countries investing in Iran by accounting for 14%, 12% and 11% of total foreign investments," he added.

Explaining on Iran’s economic ties with the European Union (EU), the director general stated that the Union has a large capacity for investing in Iran. As a result and despite wide fluctuations in mutual economic relations, the European Union still is and will continue to be a major economic partner of our country. EU members enjoy more capabilities for economic cooperation with Iran than other countries and both sides should take advantage of these capabilities.

"Iran enjoys long-lasting relations with Europe in scientific and technological sectors. In view of recent openings in our laws with respect to approving laws and regulations that facilitate attraction of foreign investment, we expect more profound developments in this regard," he said.

Referring to the conference for studying Italy’s investment opportunities in Iran that was held in Naples, Mortazavi stated that the confab, which was convened at the invitation of Naples’ chamber of commerce and was attended by the confederation of Italian industries as well as a group of that country’s businesspeople and investors, indicates Iran’s economic attractions.

With regard to activities of the Italian investors in Iran, the official noted that in addition to economic and technical presence in the Al-Mahdi Aluminum Project as well as oil and gas installations of Assaluyeh in Iran's southern region, Italy is also cooperating with the country in light industries including textile industries.

"Due to the interest shown by Italians for investing in Iran, Rome can find a special place among our country’s foreign investors if the number of executive projects is increased," he said.

The official went on to elaborate on obstacles to foreign investments in Iran saying, "The main setback is unawareness on the part of foreign investors about Iran’s capabilities, laws and facilities in this regard and we must take every measure such as consultation, dispatching delegations, publishing articles and books as well as holding meetings and conferences to solve this problem."

Mortazavi opined that if those problems were solved and the current trend took a new momentum, Iran could be expected to attract 2-3 billion dollars in foreign investments every year.

"Of course, we must not forget the negative effects of global politics on the international economy, especially with regard to attracting foreign investments to Iran," he said.

With regard to mechanisms for achieving the above goal, Mortazavi noted that implementation of the Third Economic Development Plan played a considerable role in preparing the country’s atmosphere for attraction of foreign investments with the main factors being unification of foreign exchange rate, obtaining the trust of foreign investors and reducing relevant taxes.

"At present, the amount of tax levied on revenues obtained as a result of foreign investments in the country after deducting exemptions has reduced from 65% to 25%," he said.

The official noted that to continue this trend, the Fourth Economic Development Plan would be implemented to not only eliminate insufficiencies of the previous plans as well as monopolies, but also to stabilize commercial policies, fully realize privatization plan, establish a comprehensive social security system and rationalize subsidies.