TEHRAN, IRAN – Foreign companies and governments committed some US$6.7 billion worth of investments during an exhibition that was held in early May here, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy affairs said.
Mehdi Safari said on Thursday that Iran seeks to break new records in foreign investment attraction and even go beyond the figures recorded during the Iran EXPO 2023 event that was held on May 7-10.
He said that Iran has an ambitious vision to diversify its economy away from crude oil revenues, including by expanding the transportation infrastructure in the country to significantly increase its cargo transit revenues, Press TV reported.
He said a target has been set to increase the volume of cargo transit via Iran to 90 million metric tons (mt) per year, including some 60 million mt in East-West transit which could generate up to $100 billion in fees each year.
Safari said his country has been trying to expand its fleet operating in shipping routes in the Caspian Sea to help increase the flow of cargo on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that passes through Iranian territory, Tasnim reported.
He said that Iran’s efforts to expand routes along the INSTC will focus on the completion of the Rasht-Astara railway, a major project which kicked off earlier this year with Russian investment.
He said the current administration in Iran seeks better trade ties with its neighbors but it is also focused on efforts that could boost trade with countries in Africa, Latin America and East Asia.
Safari said Iran will work to increase its supply of engineering and technical services to Africa while introducing measures to facilitate exports of agrifood to China.