Iran Mulls Plan to Exempt Diaspora Investors from Military Service

Iran is considering a plan to exempt diaspora investors from conscription as part of efforts to attract more funding for development projects from wealthy Iranians living abroad.

Head of the Organization for Investment, Economic & Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI) said on Tuesday that waiving military service requirements for Iranians residing abroad is part of the country’s policies to attract more diaspora investors.

“There are many Iranian investors residing in foreign countries. We are using specific methods to attract their investment,” Mehdi Heidari told the ILNA news agency.

Heidari said that no other country offers such guarantees to investors based abroad, adding that the government aims to assure Iranians living overseas that the projects they invest in will be highly profitable and generate returns in foreign currency.

He said that the new scheme would primarily target the Iranians based in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China, and India.

Iran has sought to attract more foreign investors into its projects in recent years despite foreign sanctions that restrict its access to major international investors and financial institutions.

Diaspora investors have been a major focus of these plans, with the government offering assurances that they can withdraw their capital and returns at any time during the project.

Last month, Iran’s central bank announced a series of new measures to facilitate foreign investment, including a decision allowing investors to import gold into the country to fund economic projects.

Government figures published earlier this year showed that Iran had attracted more than US$8 billion worth of direct foreign investment in the seven months to February.

Recent data from Iran’s stock market authority shows that foreign investment in the market nearly doubled in the year to late July to reach the equivalent of nearly US$200 million. - Press TV