Iran needs $300 billion FDI to realize 8% economic growth

TEHRAN,Dec.18(MNA)--Iran needs up to $300 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to meet objectives of its fifth five-year development plan (2010-2015), and reach 8 percent economic growth rate, the Iranian deputy finance and economic affairs minister said. “Totally, the country needs around $1 trillion investment by the end of the fifth development plan,” Behrouz Alishiri told . Some $15 billion in foreign direct investments was attracted last (calendar) year, he added. The Iranian calendar year ends on March 20. Alishiri said in October that in terms of the growth of foreign direct investment, Iran is ranked among the world’s top countries. Despite the global economic sanctions, more than 400 foreign companies are now directly investing in Iran in different sectors, he added. The Iranian government has approved more than 100 foreign investment plans worth $5.3 billion in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which ended on October 22. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) statistics, Iran attracted $3.6 billion foreign direct investment in 2010. Iran’s economic growth rate reached 4 percent in the last Iranian calendar year, Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said in October. The country’s non-oil economic growth in the year that ended in March 2010 hit 4.2 percent, the minister said. The Central Bank of Iran had previously reported that Iran’s economic growth in the previous Iranian calendar year stood at 3.5 percent including the oil sector, and 4.3 percent excluding the oil sector. According to World Bank predictions, Iran’s Gross National Product will rise by 6.7 percent in 2011 compared to the 6.1 percent rise in 2010.