Iran ready to invest in Belarus’ tourism industry

MINSK, 23 October (BelTA) – Iran is ready to invest in the tourism industry of Belarus, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran to Belarus Seyyed Abdollah Hosseini said during a meeting with the officials of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee, BelTA has learnt.

According to the Ambassador, Iranian businessmen have designed four possible projects to construct hotels in Belarus, in the Minsk oblast in particular, and to develop other objects of tourism infrastructure. “We are interested in the issues of financing tourist facilities,” said Seyyed Abdollah Hosseini.

Import of Belarusian meat and fodder to Iran and delivery of Iran’s dried fruit and coal to Belarus look promising, the Ambassador believes. Projects in the agricultural industry are on the agenda too. For that the Iranian side needs around 20,000 hectares of land.

The Chairman of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee, Leonid Krupets, also confirmed the interest in furthering cooperation. He praised the trade growth rate between the Minsk oblast and Iran and expressed hope that not only import but also export will have good growth rates (in January-August import increased 2.7 times over the same period in 2008). He also spoke about the large-scale project on construction of the Prilesye transport and logistics center in the Minsk oblast. “This project is very important for us. We would like to see more joint projects of this kind,” Leonid Krupets added. He also mentioned that the state provides a range of preferences to investors.

The delegation of Tehran Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran is in the Minsk oblast on a visit. The Iranian businessmen have already visited the Urozhainy equestrian center in the Minsk oblast, the Staiki national Olympic center. On 23 October the Iranian delegation is set to visit several companies of the Molodechno oblast (Kommunalnik Hotel, Molodechnomebel and Zabudova companies).

In January-August 2009 the trade between the Minsk oblast and the Islamic Republic of Iran made up $3.8 million, up 64.9% over the same period of last year. The export of commodities fell to $0.8 million, down 65% from January-August 2008. The downturn was due to a decrease in the export of synthetic fiber (this commodity item accounted for 46.3% of the total export in 2008), synthetic threads (25.8%), component parts and equipment for cars and tractors (15%).

In January-August 2009 Belarus’ major imports to Iran were trucks ($586,500, no deliveries in 2008), liquid pumps ($69,900, a 12-time increase in the export), aluminium metalware ($41,800, no exports in 2008). Iran’s exports to Belarus increased 2.7 times to reach $3 million. Belarus imported component parts of cars and tractors ($856,300, up 10.2 times over the same period in 2008), internal combustion engines ($292,900, up 9 times).

There are four companies with the Iranian capital in the Minsk oblast (three foreign firms and a joint venture).