Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Southern and Western Asia.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 76 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia.
Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves. Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC and OPEC
INDUSTRIES, MINES AND NATURAL RESOURCES:
Iran has leading manufacturing industries in the fields of car-manufacture and transportation, construction materials, home appliances, food and agricultural goods, armaments, pharmaceuticals, information technology, power and petrochemicals in the Middle East.
The country is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral rich countries, holding some 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tons of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tons of potential reservoirs.
petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc are the most important natural resources of the country.
ECONOMY
According to the World Bank the economy of Iran is the seventeenth largest in the world by purchasing power parity (PPP) and twenty-sixth by market value. The economy of Iran is a mixed and transition economy with a large public sector and some 50% of the economy centrally planned. It is also a diversified economy with over 40 industries directly involved in the Tehran Stock Exchange.
According to the World Bank data Iran Gdp is $331,014,973,186. Iran is one of the few major economies that has maintained positive growth in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, despite sanctions imposed by the international community. High oil prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass well over $100 billion in foreign exchange reserves.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN IRAN
In 2010, Iran ranked sixth globally in attracting foreign investments. Foreign investors have concentrated their activity in a few sectors of the economy: the oil and gas industries, vehicle manufacture, copper mining, petrochemicals, foods, and pharmaceuticals.
Firms from over 50 countries have invested in Iran in the past 16 years (1992–2008), with Asia and Europe receiving the largest share, as follows:
|
Leading countries investing in Iran (1992–2008) |
Number of projects |
Total amount invested |
|
Asia |
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Indonesia and Oman |
190 |
$11.6 billion |
|
Europe |
Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, UK, Turkey, Italy and France (20 countries in total) |
253 |
$10.9 billion |
|
Americas |
Canada, Panama, the USA and Jamaica |
7 |
$1.4 billion |
|
Africa |
Mauritius, Liberia and South Africa |
N/A |
$8 billion |
|
Australia |
Australia |
1 |
$682 million |
Among developed nations, the most active investors have been Germans, Norwegian, British, French, Japanese, Russian, South Korean, Swedish, and Swiss companies.
Followings are some competitive advantages of Iran:
Iran has made the development of non-oil exports a priority. The country has the advantage of a broad domestic industrial base, an educated and motivated workforce, cheap labor and energy resources and geographical location, which gives it access to an estimated population of some 300 million people in Caspian markets, Persian Gulf states and countries further east.
The 2012 UNCTAD report indicates that Iran's foreign direct investment or FDI has reached a total of 4.15 billion dollars by the end of 2011 showing a billion dollar growth in a single year. The Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran says that the foreign direct investment has grown by 140% in the past five years.
UNCTAD reports show that Iran is 3rd for volume of foreign investment among 12 countries of Middle East standing after Saudi Arabia and U.A.E.
EXHIBITION INDUSTRY AND ECONOMY:
According to the UFI releases Iran accounts for the highest number of trade fairs organized in 2006, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Syria. The Tehran Permanent Fairground stands out as the largest venue with indoor space of 120,000m². The study identifies three exhibition market "leaders": Iran, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East and Africa regions.
Only in Tehran there are more than 70 international and local exhibitions are being held annually and at the same international exhibitions are held in some big cities like Mashhad, Isfahan, Zanjan and Tabriz.
IRAN FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS:
Major exports and imports:
According to the CIA World Fact book, some major imports of Iran include:
- Oil & Natural Gas
- Industrial raw materials and intermediate goods
- Capital goods
- Foodstuffs
- Consumer goods
- Technical services
Their largest trade partner for importing is the United Arab Emirates, the next largest is China.
Major exports include:
- Oil, Petroleum, Natural Gas
- Chemical and petrochemical products
- fruits and nuts
- carpets
Their largest trade partner for exporting is China, the next largest is Japan.
Non-oil exports in the year 2011 reached the new record of 43.8 billion Dollars which shows a 29 percent increase to the year before.
Non-oil exports of Iran in year 1390 were to 160 countries and the Iran also imported from 153 countries which shows Iran has trade ties with most of the world's countries.
In the year 1390 five thousand and 565 types of goods were imported.Most of Iran's imports in year 1390 were from "United Arab Emirates" as 14.044 thousand tons of goods were imported from this country. Total value of imported goods from Emirates was 19 billion and 708 million Dollars that is 36.66 percent of total weight of imports and 31.90 percent of total value of imports.
Iran also imported 3.190 thousand tones of goods from china with the total value of 7 billion and 393 million Dollars that is equal to 8.33 percent of total weight of imports and 11.97 percent of total value of imports.