Foreign Investments Up 124%
Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Husseini said foreign investment in Iran has increased by 124 percent in the current Iranian year (started March 21).
He said that the increase in investment was due to the amendments in the investment promotion and protection law, IRNA reported.
Husseini stressed that Iran has appropriate trade transactions with all counties except the Israeli regime. The minister added that so far several agreements have been inked with 60 countries on mutual support for joint foreign investments.
He said agreements also have been concluded with 40 countries on avoiding double taxation. 2.7m Housing Units Under Construction
Economy Desk
About 2.7 million housing units are under construction nationwide, of which 800,000 are being built in the rural areas by Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation (IRHF), announced the minister of road and urban construction.
Speaking in the inaugural ceremony of 350 housing units in the city of Zarandieh, Markazi province, Ali Nikzad said that IRHF is expected to deliver 1.2 million residential units to the people, noting that 400,000 and 800,000 of which will be inaugurated in the rural area and new townships by March 2012, IRNA reprted.
He stated that a number of housing units will be launched in a ceremony to be attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the city of Qom.
The minister said that currently 57,500 residential units are under construction in Markazi province, of which 19,000 pertain to the villages.
Describing the performance of IRHF as desirable he said that ground has been prepared for housing construction in the rural areas.
“About 7,200 residential units are under construction by IRHF in Markazi province,” he said.
Pointing to the inauguration of Saveh-Hamedan Highway, Nikzad stated that the first lane of the highway has become operational.
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Haniya Applauds PLO Unity Moves
The Hamas premier, Ismail Haniya, praised steps toward reconciliation taken by the Islamist group and its former rival Fatah, which were angrily denounced in Israel.
Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khaled Meshaal took steps in Cairo on Thursday towards reforming the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), such that Hamas could join, AFP reported.
“We want to pursue positive dialogue with Fatah from this point”, Haniya told journalists.
“Practical measures must however be taken, like the liberation of political prisoners from Hamas detained by Fatah,” he said, adding that Fatah must also stop its repeated questioning of Hamas supporters during investigations.
The reconciliation moves drew an angry response from Israel, with one minister saying Israel must now annex more territory to ensure the safety of its citizens in case Hamas gains influence in the West Bank.
“This alarming rapprochement between Abu Mazen (Abbas) and Hamas is aimed at forming a government that one can only say is aimed at bringing about a genocide,” Transport Minister Israel Katz of the right-wing Likud party said.
Katz said “Israel must impose its sovereignty on all Jewish districts of Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank),” over the prospect of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev said the unity deal was proof that the Abbas was not interested in peace.
In Cairo, Fatah, Hamas and the 13 other Palestinian factions agreed on the creation of a panel that would govern elections to the PLO.
Nations Lose Billions To Multinationals
Not corruption but multinational tax dodging is the main reason why developing nations stay aid-dependent, says a new report.
While new proposals by the European Commission try to tackle the problem, they turn a blind eye toward tax havens, IPS wrote.
In its report, the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) gives a detailed overview of the many ways in which multinational companies avoid paying taxes to the countries where they operate, while it urges the EU to crack down on multinational tax dodging.
“It is estimated that more than a trillion dollars per year is flying out of developing countries,” Marta Ruiz, senior policy and advocacy officer at Eurodad and co-writer of the report, tells IPS. And “more than half of this amount is related to activities conducted by international companies”.
Trade Mispricing
According to Eurodad, multinationals shift profits away to other countries by making use of trade mispricing.
“Trade is manipulated between subsidiaries of the same international company operating in different countries,” Ruiz explains. “Goods are sold to the subsidiary abroad at a much lower price than the market price, just to minimize the profits made in the country of origin.”
The report launched on Nov. 21 gives two examples of trade mispricing: one US company operating in a developing nation appeared to import plastic buckets from its subsidiary in the Czech Republic at a price of $972.98 each, while another US company exported car seats to Belgium for $1.66 each.
Russians Rally Against Election Results
Tens of thousands of flag-waving and chanting protesters called on Saturday for a disputed parliamentary election to be rerun, increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin as he seeks a new term as Russian president.
The protesters chanted “Russia without Putin” and “New elections, New elections” as speakers called for an end to Putin’s 12-year domination of the country at the second big opposition rally in two weeks in central Moscow, Reuters reported.
“Do you want Putin to return to the presidency?” novelist Boris Akunin asked from a large stage.
Whistling and jeering, protesters chanted: No!”
Police said at least 28,000 attended the rally on Prospekt Sakharova (Sakharov Avenue), named after Soviet-era dissident Andrei Sakharov. One opposition leader put the crowd size at up to 100,000 people.
The big turnout is likely to encourage organizers to believe they can keep up the momentum of the biggest opposition demonstrations since Putin rose to power 12 years ago, although the prime minister seems intent on riding out the protests.
Tens of thousands of people protested in Moscow on Dec. 10 and many more demonstrated across the world’s largest country the same day to complain against alleged vote-rigging in the Dec. 4 election won by Putin’s United Russia party.
The protesters were heartened by the Kremlin’s human rights council saying a new election should be held, although it is only an advisory body whose recommendations are regularly ignored by Russia’s leaders.
Many of the protesters wore white ribbons, the symbol of the protests, and others carried balloons and flags at the rally, which brought together liberals, nationalists, anarchists, environmentalists and urban youth on a bitterly cold day.
“The last protest made a huge impression and I want others to come and realize they can stand up for their right. We all know the election result and we all know how dishonest they were,” said Andrei Chernyshov, a 22-year-old student.
Yemeni Protesters Insist on Saleh Trial
Forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh fired in the air to stop tens of thousands of protesters, who are demanding he face trial, approaching his compound in the capital Sana’a on Saturday, witnesses said.
Shots rang out as the activists entered the city chanting “No to immunity”, at the climax of a mass march that started days earlier in the southern city of Taiz, said residents, Reuters reported.
The protesters were referring to a deal granting Saleh immunity from prosecution for his part in a violent crackdown on months of demonstrations against his 33-year rule.
The agreement, crafted by Yemen’s wealthier neighbors in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), was designed to ease Saleh out of power and avert civil war in a country that has seen a growing infiltration from al Qaeda and sits next to key oil shipping lanes.
Under the deal, Saleh has transferred his powers to his deputy. An interim government will prepare the country for an election to replace him in February, and separate pro-Saleh troops from militiamen loyal to tribal leaders and rebel army units in Sana’a and elsewhere.
Protesters, many of them young, chanted “For shame, the blood of the martyrs has been sold for dollars”, referring to the immunity deal, which was endorsed by a coalition of opposition parties that are part of the interim government.
Witnesses said troops loyal to Saleh spread out across the entrances of streets leading to his compound to block any attempt by protesters to approach it.
By Emad Abshenass Chief Editor
Behind the Syrian Explosions
Two explosions shocked the residents of the Syrian capital. The explosions had more of a political echo than a security one. Those who planned these explosions wanted to show that they are able to strike Damascus, most secure city in Syria in the past 40 years.
Those responsible for the explosions can be none other than the foreign mercenaries who neither care about the people getting killed nor about its consequences.
I have had a lot of Syrian friends and I am sure no Syrian citizen will ever conduct such a cruel act of terrorism even if he hates the ruling party and the president.
Even though it is interference in the country’s internal affairs, the Syrian government agreed to permit the Arab League delegation to come to Syria and investigate the reality of the situation. If the Syrian government was not completely sure about its legitimacy it would never have agreed to receive such a delegation.
The Syrian government has always declared that foreign mercenaries and terrorists are disturbing the security in the country by killing civilians and government officers to create enmity and uprisings.
Though millions of Syrians marched in support of President Bashar Al-Assad, only the protests by a minority in Syria are reflected in the media. This shows that those media are conducting a pre-planned propaganda against this country.
When news emerged in the media about sending mercenaries from Libya to the Syria-Turkey border, I was not shocked at all. About three months ago in an article in ‘Iran Daily’ I predicted the new Israeli-American way of invading countries. In that article I mentioned that they are training Arab mercenaries in the south of Libya to use them in other Arab countries instead of sending their own troops. They are sending mercenaries to Syria through the borders of neighboring countries, particularly Turkey. The mercenaries who are not even Syrians travel around Syria and kill the people.
10-Day Naval Maneuvers In Progress
Turkey to Buy Oil Despite Sanctions
Expanding Cultural TiesWith Japan, Georgia
Turkey Names 2014 as Year Of Iran
850,000 Will Help Administer Elections
2.7m Housing Units Under Construction
From Page 1
“The second lane will be completed in the near future,” he said.
Earlier last week Nikzad said that Mehr Housing projects are expected to be commissioned in various provinces by the end of the current Iranian year (in March 2012).
He said that 6,000 contractors are involved in mass housing construction, adding the capabilities of the private sector should be used to implement the projects.
“We handed over all the investment opportunities to the private sector, and they announced that €70 million worth of investment opportunities were prepared for different sectors.”
He said, “During our recent visit to Syria, we tried to link Iran’s private sector with that of the country, but no agreement on housing projects was signed between the two sides since construction prices in Syria are lower.
“No housing unit, built by the government, will be inaugurated in the country without adequate facilities.”
Nikzad further stated that 25 airplanes have been added to Iran’s aviation fleet following the merger of road and housing ministries.
Last year Nikzad said, “Mehr Housing Plan has led to stability in housing prices and in some provinces it has even resulted in the reduction of prices of land and housing.”
In recent years, the construction industry of Iran has been thriving due to an increase in national and international investment to the extent that it is now the largest in the Middle East region. The Central Bank of Iran indicates that 70 percent of the Iranians own homes.
As of January 2011, the banking sector, particularly Bank Maskan has given loans up to 102 trillion rials ($10.2 billion) to applicants of Mehr housing project.
Under this scheme, real estate developers are offered free land in return for building cheap residential units for first-time buyers on 99-year lease contracts.
The government then commissioned agent banks to offer loans to the real estate developers to develop the land and begin construction projects to increase production and create equilibrium in the supply and demand curve (2008).
Close to 400,000 units have been built and permits have been issued for another 12,000.
Mehr housing project is expected to provide 600,000 residential units in its first phase.
About 3.7 million people have so far registered for Mehr Housing Plan (2008).
Applicants should pay about 20 percent of the construction costs. While most Iranians have difficulties obtaining small home loans, 90 persons have managed to secure collective facilities totaling $8 billion from banks.
Iran’s foreign investments amounted to over $3.7 billion last year, the minister noted.
Earlier, the minister said a special investment award is being considered this year to encourage further foreign investment. Husseini said Iran’s National Development Fund’s reserves stand at $27 billion and at least $5.4 billion of this sum will be allocated to promoting foreign investment.
‘About 20 percent of this amount has been allocated to foreign investors’ as an incentive to participate in economic projects, Mehr News Agency reported.
He further stated that the country has created conditions for a more active cooperation of the private sector in economic plans nationwide. The minister also assured foreign investors of the safety of investing in the Islamic Republic.
“The country’s political conditions are appropriate for attracting foreign investment,” Husseini said, adding that Iran has prepared the grounds to facilitate investment in the country.
Iran also attracted $3 billion in foreign investment in 2009, becoming one of the top six countries in the world with the highest foreign investment attraction rates.
Meanwhile, deputy Iranian Mine and Trade Minister Reza Fatemi Amin said investment in the industrial and mineral sector increased from 140 trillion rials ($14 billion) in 2005 to 900 trillion rials ($90 billion) in 2010.
Fatemi Amin said that steel production capacity currently stands at 20 million tons while the figure was 10 million tons in 2005, IRNA reported.
The official put the cement production capacity at 74 million tons adding the figure shows a significant increase compared to the amount for 2004 which was 30 million tons.
Fatemi Amin stated that from 2005 to 2010, steel output rose by 45.5 percent, production of steel products by 77 percent, cement production by 63 percent and tile output by 128 percent.
He noted the value of the country’s industrial and mineral exports rose from $18 billion during the period between 1998 and 2004 to more than $86 billion from 2005 to 2010.
The deputy minister stated that despite the existence of many problems including unilateral sanction and numerous restrictions imposed on the country, those involved in industrial, mineral and commercial activities have made extensive efforts to prepare ground for the country’s economic development.
