TEHRAN – Iran has approved more than 600 foreign investment applications worth nearly $17 billion since the start of the current Iranian year (late March 2025), the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran said.

The approvals were granted over 12 meetings of the Foreign Investment Board held so far this year, according to Mehr news agency.

In the board’s 11th and 12th sessions, held two weeks apart, 105 projects worth about $3.7 billion were approved, including investments in renewable energy and solar power plants, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, housing, international logistics and transport, oil derivatives, services and other industrial sectors.

Investors came from a range of countries including Switzerland, Britain, the Netherlands, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Iraq and Oman, as well as Iranians living abroad.

The organization said the Foreign Investment Board meets monthly to review applications, with the cumulative approvals this year reaching over 600 projects valued at close to $17 billion.

Earlier this month, Majid Almasi, director general for foreign investment at the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran said the Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry has issued licenses for more than $11 billion in foreign investment projects so far.

Almasi said around $1 billion has already been registered this year, with investment coming not only from neighboring countries but also from more distant markets, including Africa.

Capital brought in by Iranians living abroad is also counted as foreign investment because the funds originate outside the country, he added.

He said bank deposits by foreigners do not qualify as foreign investment, despite bringing in foreign currency.

To benefit from Iran’s decades-old law on foreign investment protection – which covers political risk and guarantees capital repatriation – investors must obtain approval from the Foreign Investment Board and the investment organization.

Foreign investors have shown interest across a wide range of sectors, from small projects of around $500,000 such as hotel construction to large-scale ventures in petrochemical value chains, equipment imports and technology transfer, Almasi said.

Investment models include joint ventures, buy-back contracts and build-operate-transfer schemes, depending on the sector, project structure and expected returns, he added.

Almasi said Iran offers competitive advantages including tax incentives, legal protections for investors and customs exemptions for imported equipment. He noted that once investment-related imports are registered, investors do not require domestic foreign exchange allocation because their funding source is external.

Iran’s economic ecosystem can deliver strong returns, he said, citing companies such as mobile operator Irancell, ride-hailing firm Snapp and Razi Petrochemical as examples of successful foreign-backed ventures.

Foreign investment, he added, is not limited to cash inflows but also includes the entry of advanced machinery and equipment, noting that many foreign-branded vehicles assembled in Iran operate under foreign investment licenses.

EF/MA