PLANNERS SAY IRAN'S ECONOMIC FUTURE LOOKS GRIM.
According to a report from the Management and Planning Organization, economic conditions in Iran will deteriorate in the coming decade if current trends continue, "Iran Daily" reported on 11 August.
Some 5.3 million people will be jobless in 2015, the report says, translating into an unemployment rate of 17.5 percent. It adds that inflation will hit 22 percent, and there will be a 19.8 percent negative trade balance. GDP will grow by 3.9 percent annually, it predicts, and the amount of non-oil exports will increase. The ratio of non-oil-to-oil exports is expected to remain the same, however. BS
Source RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 151, Part III, 11 August 2003
Official: Dlrs 14.5bn needed to be invested in Iran annually
Tabriz, East Azarbaijan prov, Aug 13, IRNA -- Dlrs 14.5 billion is needed to be invested in Iran annually in line with global standards, said Director General of the Economic Affairs Department at Ministry of Economy and Finance Mohammad Taheri said here on Wednesday.
Taheri told the International Seminar of Foreign Investment Opportunities that Iran has not yet been able to achieve its targets in terms of investment due to lack of comprehensive laws. He hoped that ratification of the Law on Attraction of Foreign Investment would help promote national economy and attain economic objectives.
He put the amount of assets held by expatriate Iranians at dlrs 600 billion and said attraction of the sum would help upgrade Iranian economy.
The International Seminar of Foreign Investment is underway in this northwestern provincial city for two days.
Some 270 projects, worth dlrs 2.2 billion, are to be offered for foreign investment at the seminar. The meeting aims to make the participants acquainted with each other.
Some 200 foreign and 500 Iranian investors are taking part in the seminar.
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http://www.irna.ir/en/tnews/030814191039.etn06.shtml Comments: They do not only have to change the foreign investment act.