TEHRAN – Some 94 development projects worth 60 trillion rials (about $1.42 billion) are going to be put into operation in Iran’s free trade and special economic zones on Thursday, the Secretary of Iranian Free Zones High Council Hamidreza Mo’meni announced.

According to Mo’meni, as the fourth series of inaugurations in the country’s free trade and special economic zones, the mentioned projects are going to be inaugurated by President Hassan Rouhani in an online ceremony.

Covering a variety of fields including tourism, oil and gas, industry, production, renewable energies, and power plants, fisheries, and agriculture, the mentioned projects will be put into operation in Qeshm, Chabahar, Aras, Arvand, Salafchegan, and Payam zones, the official said.

The official noted that in the previous three rounds of inaugurations in the country’s free and special economic zones, 163 projects with a total investment of 340 trillion rials (about $8.095 billion) have been inaugurated.

Considering the important role that the free zones play in promoting the country’s export and employment, Iran is seriously pursuing the development of its existing zones and the establishment of new zones as well.

More development measures in this field have been taking since the U.S. re-imposition of sanctions on the Iranian economy in November 2018, as Iran is reducing its dependence on the oil income while elevating its domestic production and non-oil exports.

Although the sanctions have disrupted Iran’s economic activities, they could not impede the development of Iranian free zones; in fact, the development of these zones has been even accelerated.

Many strides made for increasing activities in the free zones have played a significant part in boosting the country’s non-oil exports and brought prosperity in the other economic sectors.

EF/MA