Iran’s Foreign Investment Rose 83% in First Half, Times Reports

Foreign investment in Iran jumped 83 percent to $6.8 billion in the first half of the current Iranian year, which began on March 20, the Tehran Times reported, citing Deputy Economy Minister Behrouz Alishiri.

“Iran plans to attract $10 billion in foreign investment in the current year,” the Tehran-based newspaper cited Alishiri as saying. He said the country needs $400 billion in direct foreign investment to reach its target of 8 percent economic growth by 2015, the newspaper reported.

Foreign investment in the Islamic Republic amounted to $4.4 billion last year, Alishiri said on Sept. 3, according to the Tehran Times, which didn’t provide the investment figure for the first half of the last Iranian year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yeganeh Salehi in Tehran at yalehi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net