NRW Economics Minister Duin went with 80 representatives of middle-sized companies from the area to investigate market opportunities in Iran following the loosening of economic sanctions. Traditionally, Germany and Iran have had good business contacts. “I am positively surprised” said Duin on Tuesday evening, “our meetings are much more open and liberal than I would have thought.” His meeting with the Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry Valiollah Afkhami “was unusually concrete for this being our first round of talks.”

Bonn firm Axxessio is also represented in the delegation; it is an IT and management consultancy company. “We have gained much knowledge” commented Duin. Having a good relationship to regional authorities in Iran is clearly important he has learned, “When it comes to worker occupational safety and rights, German investors have no way around them” (dealing with regional authorities).

It became clear to the German delegation just how large the need is for infrastructure investment there when they viewed the project called Parand. The suburb, 30 kilometers southwest from Tehran, is preparing to grow in the next two years from 180,000 to 480,000 residents. 300 hectares of land designated for industry are still up for grabs. German firms are expressly welcome. Mohsen Vatankhabhi of the Ministry for City Development and Road Construction, says “We want to invest in solar facilities, movie theaters, a garbage collection system, and a medical complex with medical technical devices, doctors and hospitals so it can be a destination for patients from the near East.”

(Orig. text: Jasmin Fischer)