Iran's Business in a Nut Shell

Demographics:

Iran has an area of 1,648,195 million sq Kms (636,296 sq. miles). The population of country at 2003 census estimated to be at 69 million, of which 12 million live in the capital Tehran. Iran shares borders with Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iran has coastline along the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Sea of Oman.

Exports:

Iran is OPEC's second largest oil producer. It has approximately 9% of world oil reserves (some 94 billion barrels). Iran also has the second largest reserves of natural gas in the world (some 812 trillion cubic feet). Although oil exports accounts for around 80% of foreign exchange earnings, non-oil exports such as Persian carpets, pistachio nuts and dried fruits have increasingly contributed to the foreign exchange earnings as well.

Other non-oil oil exports include; coal, copper, iron, zinc and gold. Iran is the third largest producer of copper in the world. The country also, has the advantage of a broad domestic industrial base, and educated and motivated workforce and geographical location, which gives it access to an estimated 300 million people in the Caspian markets, Persian Gulf littoral states and countries further east.

Group Domestic Product & Growth Rate:

Iran is the most populous country with the second largest economy in the Middle East. Iran's GDP estimated around $477.8 billion. The country's and world economists, have estimated the growth rate of 6.5 percent in recent years. The country's capital market currently accounts for some 70 percent of Iran's total financial capital. Iran has enormous potential for both light and heave industries. It has number if Free Trade Zones, most popular of which is; Kish Free Zone Organization. The Kish is just a few miles off the southern Iranian coasts and only a few hundred miles from the southern Persian Gulf littoral states.

Investment Priority Sectors:

Agri-Business, Automotive, Education, Financial Services, Mines & Metals, Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Power Generation and Tourism and Leisure are currently identified as priority projects for domestic and foreign investments.

Iran's Major Trading Partners:

Despite the fact that Germany, Italy and Japan are counted as leading exporters to Iran, Iran's trade initiatives and policy in recent years, provide ample opportunities for other countries beyond the small circle of the world's major trading partners. Traders as far as Australia, Austria, Cyprus, India, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the neighboring Arab countries have all successfully secured new business and trade opportunities in the past few years. This is a significant shift in Iran's trade pattern.

A glance at the 70s indicate that in 1971, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States, accounted for almost 70% of Iran's exports and imports. Another significant shift in Iran's trade can be seen from increasingly Economic cooperation with Central Asian countries through Economic Cooperation Organization "ECO", and ties with other Economic blocks such as Association of South East Asian Nations "ASEAN", as well as, EU countries.

Iran has also boosted its trade relation with Saudi Arabia. Apart from cooperation in establishing a joint investment bank, both countries have agreed to jointly invest in infrastructure projects, including a power plant in Qeshm Island, and Imam Khomeini's International Airport.