Call for Return

In a conference with private sector and entrepreneurs, President Hassan Rouhani made a vow that the years between 1384(2005) and 1392(2013) are not repeatable. He then pointed at economic issues in the country and asked the banking system to step in. Mr. Rouhani added that domestic investment is not adequate for meeting our targets and emphasized the crucial importance of foreign capital." Iranians abroad must be encouraged to invest in Iran" he said. Although the same plans of previous administration failed to attract foreign investment, the current administration with its conciliatory approach is determined to achieve its goals.

Practical steps
After President's remarks; Ministry of Economy announced that they managed to persuade two Iranian investors living abroad to invest in Iran. According to Behrouz Alishiri, Deputy Minister of Economy, one of them who resides in Europe tends to invest $2 million in print industry. Organization for Investment, Economic & Technical Assistance of Iran also announced new ratifications in its 186th meeting to facilitate foreign direct investment in Iran.
Previously, Iran's Minister of Economy, Ali Tayyebnia described his plans for attracting foreign investment in his confidence vote session in the Parliament. He placed emphasis on Iranians abroad and called the lack of foreign investment a major challenge to enhancement of domestic production and economic growth. Those remarks are rooted in the official investment statistics. According to the Central Bank of Iran; investments in industry sector decreased by 50% between 2009 and 2013 (from 20000 B to 8000 B Tomans).
Last year in a banking conference, Dr. Massoud Nili, senior economic adviser of the President, stated that investments in industry sector dropped by 41% in 1391(2012). The 11th administration is seeking to attract foreign capital for an economic turnaround.

Capabilities of Iranians abroad
Despite inviting Iranians to return home a quantitative analysis has not been conducted by the government. The only official report goes back to Iranian year of 1386(2007) published by the Islamic Parliament of Iran's Research Center (IPIRC) according to which combined net worth of Iranians abroad is estimated to be more than $ 1.3 trillion, $ 900 billion of which belongs to Iranians residing in the US. The report stated that 6500 Iranian firms had been registered in Dubai and more than 1400 Iranians invested in Dubai Financial Market which led to significant increases in the volume of shares traded and the share prices of many companies during 2004 and 2005. There are also other unofficial statistics. In a joint meeting with Mohammad Shariatmadari Vice President for executive affairs and the Secretary General of High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad, Abbas Rajaei Chairman of Iran's Parliament Committee on Iranians abroad said that there are more than 5 million Iranian expatriates with almost $ 4 trillion. According to his figures, each Iranian has an average net worth of $ 800000 (240 million tomans with exchange rate of 3000).
Obstacles in the way of return
According to government officials, members of the Parliament and the private sector, there are various obstacles in the way of Iranians abroad to invest in Iran ranging from their attitude towards the country and lack of security to disabling business environment.
In his meeting with Vice President, Mr. Rajaei called for reconsidering our attitude towards Iranians abroad. "They are not anti-Islamic revolution and don't work as spies" he said.
"Iranians are our cultural ambassadors; a large part of Iranian expatriates are educated and knowledgeable and we need to exploit their potential" he added.
Bahman Akhavan, former Parliament representative believes that lack of security poses a major obstacle to foreign capital attraction. In an interview with TABNAK he stated that security is everything for wealthy people and they look for safe havens to reside. Jafar Ghaderi made the same remarks and after the invitation by President told a group of highly-educated Iranians that the instinctive desire to return home is an opportunity for us to attract Iranians. Meanwhile, they need to be encouraged. He then assured them that their investments would be safe in Iran.
According to Ali Ghanbari, faculty member at Tarbiat Modarres University, building trust and security are the determining factors in attraction of foreign investment. Abbas Rajaei also said that:"Iranians are Iranians wherever they live and we must provide them with security and safety to invest back home".
Besides attitude towards Iranians abroad and security matters, lack of coordination between executive branches of the government is the other obstacle. In that report, Islamic Parliament of Iran's Research Center mentioned this lack of coordination as one of the biggest obstacles in the way of Iranians abroad to invest in their home town. There are issues such as military service, disputes over the ownership of their assets and properties in Iran and dual citizenship which need to be resolved by various branches of the government; hence our policies and approach must be revised. Despite all these obstacles the government is trying its hardest to surmount them and attract foreign capital for an economic turnaround.