Iran's economy minister: Foreign investors are welcomed

Foreign investors are welcomed to Iran, Iranian Economy Minister Seyed Shamsedin Hosseini said on Sunday.Speaking to an International Conference on Alborz Province Investment Opportunities, Hosseini added that foreign investors would be greeted as Iran’s honorary citizens. “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has assigned a team to facilitate administrative bureaucracy for foreign investors,” he said. The Iranian economy minister noted that 20 percent of Iran's National Development Fund had been earmarked for foreign investments. “Foreign investment in Iran last year stood at dlrs 3.773 billion with foreign capitals invested in the country registering a 124 percent rise in 2009 and 2010,” he said. The US and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program, and used this pretext to pressure the UN Security Council into imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran. Following the move, both the US and the EU also imposed unilateral sanctions against the energy and banking sectors of the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials have declared that the sanctions have prompted them to take new economic measures. They believe that in normal situations they never understood there are many other methods of financing such as civil participation and using the private sector capabilities to finance projects.