Investment
Iran's high income from Oil revenue made it unnecessary to change its tough foreign investment policies. Recently government has  taken  a more liberal approach towards attracting foreign investment. Buy-back arrangement scheme with foreign investors was the first program , whereby the investing entity would commit itself to purchase a proportion of the goods produced by its Iranian plant. This was not a successful scheme.

It was not until 2002 when a series of laws was passed intended to open up economy and  to reduce the country’s dependence on oil revenues. Recent reductions in corporate and income taxes, and moves to liberalize the Tehran Stock Exchange have also indirectly encouraged foreign investments.

Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act addressed the following:

1) Allowing foreign investment in all sectors opened to Iranian private companies.

2) A review of the definition of “Foreign Investor” to include Iranian expatriates provided that their investment capital originates from abroad.

3) Allowing repatriation of local sales related profits in addition to export-related profits in hard currency at the current exchange rate.

4) Fair compensation in case of nationalization.

5) The establishment of a maximum 45-day period for the processing of individual foreign investment applications.

The new Act clearly empowers the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance in all matters related to foreign investment and seeks to provide for a broader coverage of the legislation in including for instance certain foreign investment schemes such as “Buy Back Agreements” not previously covered under the old regime. The Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI) is responsible for receiving and processing all foreign investment applications:
 

Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran
Address: Park-e-Shahr. 15 Khortdad Sq/ Davar St. 11365-9618, Tehran
Tel: (98 21)  3911655 
Fax: (98 21) 3901033