Over 240 foreign firms investing in Iran’s AFZ

TEHRAN,July 20(MNA) – Some 243 companies from 22 countries have been investing in Iran’s Aras Free Zone (AFZ), which is situated in northwestern East Azarbaijan province, IRNA quoted Iran’s ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan as saying. Mohsen Pak-Aeen added that 140 companies are active in the field of trade, and the rest are active in different fields of service, engineering, and tourism. Investing in AFZ is welcomed by foreign firms because there are offered with tax exemption, the official said. AFZ is adjacent to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Iran conducted $19.1 billion in trade of non-oil goods with other countries during the first three months of the current calendar year which began on March 21, Iran’s Customs Administration reported. The country exported $9.75 billion worth of non-oil goods (including gas condensates) and imported $9.39 billion of non-oil goods during the 3-month period. Iran’s technical and engineering exports are predicted to exceed $10 billion in the current Iranian calendar year, Iranian Industry, Mines, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari announced. This will be the minimum amount of technical and engineering exports and the country’s capacity will be much more than this, IRNA quoted Ghazanfari as saying. He emphasized the role of free trade zones in increasing the technical-engineering exports. The head of the Association of Iranian Exporters of Technical and Engineering Services, Mohammad Reza Ansari, said in February that Iranian companies have the potential to annually carry out projects worth up to $20 billion in different countries. Over 120 Iranian companies implemented several development plans in 60 countries last year.