A reputable German company will finance steel projects in Iran, deputy minister of industries, mining and trade and head of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, Mehdi Karbasian, has announced, without naming the company.
“After seven to eight months of intense negotiations, a credible German company has finally obtained the required permissions from German authorities to finance steel projects in Iran,” said the IMIDRO head.
He also noted that European banks have expressed interest in financing Iranian projects during the Iran-EU Trade Conference held in Vienna on July 23-24.
IMIDRO introduced mining investment projects worth $29 billion for European financing, of which $9 billion have already been allocated, said Karbasian. “These projects include aluminum, steel, rare earth elements, copper, gold and coal mines.”
The European companies are changing their earlier approach that focused only on exporting finished products to Iran. They are now ready to cooperate in transfer of technology, said the official.
Referring to last week’s conference in Vienna, Karbasian said several meetings were held with Swiss, German and Austrian companies to discuss investment in the mining sectors.
“Iran’s mining sectors have remained largely underdeveloped over the past years, with only 7% of the country’s mineral resources explored so far. However, in 2014, IMIDRO embarked on mineral exploration over more than 200,000 square kilometers of the country in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Iran and the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade,” said Karbasian, noting that the achievements of the project would be released in the coming months.
“Iran is home to 68 types of minerals, of which only few have so far been explored,” Karbasian lamented, calling for stronger the presence of private sector in mining and mineral projects to help generate more employment.
