Iran - Luxembourg
The Chamber of Commerce of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Economy and the External Trade Advisor for Luxembourg in Iran, had organised an official mission to Iran. The mission, comprising a delegation of 60 businessmen, was led by H.E. Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy and lasted from the 17th to the 20th of October 2016.
With about 80 million inhabitants, Iran is one of the biggest markets relatively unexploited in the world and the second biggest economy of the MENA region. At the beginning of this year, the international economic sanctions against Iran were widely lifted. The country tries again to join the global economy but has to modernise its infrastructures and its industrial installations.
Iran’s economy is far more diverse than those of other oil producers in the region and is expected to achieve the second-highest disposable income per capita in the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates, illustrating the country’s high-spending power. Over the longer run, Iran will be able to attract foreign investment. Among the country’s attractions are a young, well-educated, and largely urban population.
Since the first mission organised by the Chamber of Commerce in 2015, Iran’s economy progressed and a continued growth is foreseen for the coming years: 4.2% in 2016 and 4.6% in 2017.
As part of this official mission to Iran, the delegates of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce paid a visit to its Iranian counterpart. Mr Shafei, President of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, underlined the aim of strengthening bilateral ties between the two chambers and exploring new potentialities. He and suggested to visit Luxembourg with a businessmen delegation next year.
A seminar, dedicated to presenting the Luxembourg economy, its opportunities and its innovations – took place on October 18 in Tehran. Some 190 Iranian companies came to assess the potential of Luxembourg for their business. After the official opening of H.E. Minister Schneider, the Director General of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Thelen highlighted the different sectors in which the two countries could partner up, followed by a presentation of the Luxembourg financial centre by Tom Théobald, Deputy CEO of Luxembourg for Finance. The Iranian banking sector comprises only 30 banks, experts from Luxembourg can certainly assist the Iranian financial centre technically to conform to international standards and share best practices.
On the Iranian side, Mahyar Malekmohammadi, Vice President of the Iran, Belgium and Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce explained how to do business with Iran, In addition, the Luxembourg delegates got to know more about technology, innovation and R&D in Iran, ranked 5th country worldwide regarding engineering skills. Ali Birang, Deputy Director of international affairs and technology, also announced the establishing of a joint working group in the field of ICT cooperation, new technologies and fintech between the two countries. The possibility of joint research projects and student exchange programs are being considered as well.
Two testimonials given by Cargolux and OS Consult, outlining their experiences entering the Iranian market, concluded the session.
Other events included the visit of TOSAN, a banking and payment solution provider comprising 25 different companies. This regional ICT powerhouse, market leader in financial software and telecom developments, started in 1999 with 8 employees to embrace today strategic alliances in more than 5 countries with a team of 2500 employees.
GASTECH, an integrated contractor providing customised process equipment and turnkey facilities to the oil and gas, petrochemical and power generation industries worldwide, informed the delegation about all products and services needed to operate and develop oil and gas facilities. Another highlight of the mission was the visit of OMRAN AZARESTAN, producing steel structures used for large construction projects, as well as supplier to other companies. A visit to a project under construction has been arranged as well.
Participating companies from Luxembourg had also tailor-made business meetings with local companies and institutions. The Luxembourg delegation was impressed by the high level of creativity and innovation of the Iranian economy. A few declaration of interest have been signed. Iran is indeed in search of expertise in diverse sectors: energy, finance, health care, cosmetics, mineral resources, environment, transport and logistics, construction and infrastructure. Furthermore, many Iranians want European brands rather than the Chinese ones that dominated the market under sanctions. Foreign hotel chains are also poised to invest. Iran also plans to more than double its internal 10,000km rail network over the next decade and replace rolling stock with high-speed trains on electrified lines. Iran Air might go the same way after two years of restructuring. Planes have already been ordered from Boeing and Airbus. The upgrade of the local infrastructure as well as the development of a fiber optic network and data centers are high-priority projects. The start-up and VC ecosystem has truly taken off over the past five years. Both Luxembourg and Iran can benefit from synergies. These examples show that not only economic relations but also the exchange and knowledge-sharing with the Iranian counterpart should continue to deepen.
As Carlo Thelen concluded in his presentation: „Let’s venture onto new ground, let’s build successful partnerships, let’s move forward together, let’s make it happen!“
