Baku, Azerbaijan, June 24
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Italian firms are serious about investing in Iran's water and power projects.
A number of Italian investors met in Tehran with Abolfazl Koudehi, director of Iran's bureau for foreign investments at the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on June 24.
The investors announced readiness to participate in the implementation of projects across Iran to establish water and power supply lines and build dams and power plants.
On April 8, Koudehi said that Iran should attract more foreign investment in order to achieve high economic growth.
In addition to local investments, we should plan to attract more foreign investment to achieve high economic growth, he added.
He noted that the process of foreign investment should be streamlined through offering special incentives to foreign investors.
Italy's relations with Iran, both economic and political, are now growing strongly. Italy, at present, is in the first place among the EU member states in terms of overall trade with Iran.
In November, Iranian ambassador in Italy Jahanbakhsh Mozaffari called Iran a highly secure country in the region and urged Italian companies to invest in the Iranian market.
Italy-Iran Joint Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rosario Alessandrello has expressed hope that lifting the international sanctions against Iran would lead to a surge in the bilateral trade.
In October, Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's Director General for European and American Trade Abdolhamid Asadian said over 70 Italian companies are planning to enter the Iranian market and a similar process has begun in other European countries.