With international sanctions gone, Iran has not only become an interesting market for foreign trade, but also for investors.
They want to invest money or buy Iranian resources, which has become easier than expected due to Iran’s performance-oriented infrastructure, Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.
At the Iran Mercantile Exchange, traders deal in typical commodities like iron ore, oil, corn, barley and saffron.
Founded 10 years ago, Tehran Stock Exchange quickly became an important platform for the Iranian economy.
Now that international sanctions have been revoked, IME has become a beacon of hope for the country. It now offers services similar to the ones foreign investors can find in exchanges of financial hubs like London, New York and Dubai.
International investment could soon become a major driver of the Iranian economy.
“They just want to use the opportunities in Iran. They don’t want to refer to Iran. They want to invest their money in Iran. They want to buy something from Iranian producers, but they don’t want to come physically to Iran,” says IME chief, Hamed Soltani-Nejad.
The IME already grosses over $15 billion a year—almost 7% of the country’s GDP.
Along with serving the needs of oil and mining companies, it probably will not be long before the exchange begins to offer a platform for small- and medium-sized enterprises as well. That would even benefit sectors like agriculture.
The end of sanctions means saffron producers in Mashhad in northeastern Iran can now do business directly with international buyers. The exchange controls the quality of saffron, organizes the sales and guarantees payment.
“The sanctions made saffron exports complicated and difficult in recent years. And our exports to America were stopped altogether. But America was still buying our saffron albeit indirectly. Most of it went through Spain. That meant higher costs,” says Ali Shariati, CEO of Novin Saffron.
“It looks as if we will be able to benefit and expand our markets now that the sanctions are over. And buyers will be able to purchase our products with fewer middlemen involved.”
That will mean more international capital will flow into the country and more profit for Novin Saffron that will go toward modernizing the production plant, increasing yield and creating more urgently needed jobs.
