Foreign investment in free zones rises 268 in 11 months on year
Foreign investment in free zones rises 268% in 11 months on year
TEHRAN- As announced by Iran’s Secretariat of the High Council and the Free Zones Organizations, foreign investment in the country’s free zones reached $1.025 billion during the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2025-February 20, 2026), with an increase of 268 percent compared to the same period of time in the previous year.
Also, internal investment in these zones rose 36 percent in the mentioned 11-month period, year on year.
Meanwhile, the value of exports form the country’s free zones has increased by 14 percent during the first 11 months of the present year, as compared to the same period of time in the previous year.
As reported, commodities worth $1.322 billion were exported from these zones in the mentioned 11-month period.
Secretariat of the High Council and the Free Zones Organizations highlighted that the performance of the country’s free trade and industrial zones’ economic indices during the 11-month time span indicates noticeable growth in domestic and foreign investments, production and export value, which is the indication of economic activities development in these areas.
Diversifying entry points for goods and expanding alternative corridors is the first step towards neutralizing the economic siege and pressure on the main arteries of the national economy. Free zones, by utilizing legal exemptions, play a vital role in this regard, according to an article published by IRNA.
The article reads:
“During the unjust aggression of the American and Zionist enemy against the country and the turning of a golden page in national resilience, the trade-industrial free zones and special economic zones of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in addition to their conventional functions in economic development and facilitating production and commercial exchanges, are playing a historical role as strong bastions of a "resistance economy" and the front lines of the economic warfront.
Today, when the ill-wishers of this land have targeted the nation's existence by imposing a comprehensive war in military and economic dimensions, these zones have become symbols of "resilience" and "continuity of service."
By the graces of God Almighty, strategic intelligence, and a specialized approach to crisis prediction, management, and passive defense within the Secretariat and the Free Zones Organization, conditions have been provided for these functions to transform, through an intelligent change in nature, into tools for "survival and dynamism."
Diversifying entry points for goods and expanding alternative corridors is the first step towards neutralizing the economic siege and pressure on the main arteries of the national economy.
In this regard, free zones, by utilizing legal exemptions and streamlined customs procedures, play a vital role in "reducing transaction costs" and "accelerating the supply chain."
Iran, possessing free zones in the north, south, east, and west, enjoys a unique geoeconomic advantage. From the Makran coasts in Chabahar to Aras and Anzali, which serve as a communication bridge with Eurasia; each of these points is a strategic node in the global trade network that does not cease its service process simply due to aerial military attacks or indiscriminate bombing.
MA
source: tehrantimes.com