Posted on 07/23/2015 7:18:07 AM PDT by thackney
On Thursday, Iran detailed plans to rebuild its main industries and trade relationships after last week's final nuclear deal with the P5+1. The country says it is targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020.
Iran Wants 2-Way Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Iran's Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, said Iran would focus on its oil and gas, metals and car industries with the goal of exporting to Europe following the easing of sanctions, rather than merely importing Western technology, Reuters reported Thursday morning.
"We are looking for a two-way trade as well as cooperation in development, design and engineering," Nematzadeh said at a conference in Vienna. "We are no longer interested in a unidirectional importation of goods and machinery from Europe."
On Monday, the UN Security Council endorsed last week's deal, which ends years of economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
Though sanctions are unlikely to be rescinded until next year, many European firms have already expressed interest in reestablishing business relations with Iran. Germany has sent its Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel on the first senior level government visit to Iran in 13 years joined by a delegation of leading business figures, for instance.
Hossein Zamaninia, Iran's deputy oil minister for commerce and international affairs, said Iran had identified almost 50 oil and gas projects valued at $185 billion that it hoped to sign by the end of the decade.
New Contract Model To Be Introduced In 2-3 Months Zamaninia said Thursday that in preparation for talks with potential foreign partners, Iran had outlined a new contract model which it calls its integrated petroleum contract (IPC).
"This model contract addresses some of the deficiencies of the old buyback contract and it further aligns the short- and long-term interests of parties involved," Reuters quoted him as saying.
He added that the deals would last 20-25 years. This is much longer than the previously buybacks, which essentially were fee-paying agreement with global oil companies for work they executed on Iranian oil fields.
Iran would introduce the new contract model and the projects it has identified within 2-3 months, Zamaninia said.
Iran's Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei said the country had already completed negotiations with some European firms seeking to invest in the country.
"We are recently witnessing the return of European investors to the country. Some of these negotiations have concluded, and we have approved and granted them the foreign investment licences and protections," Reuters quoted Khazaei as saying at the conference.
"Even in the past couple of weeks we have approved more than $2 billion of projects in Iran by European companies," he said.
Nematzadeh said Iran seeks membership in the World Trade Organization once political obstacles were surmounted and would be interested in trade agreementss with Europe and central Asian countries.
Oh goodie! More stuff to blow to hell from 40,000 feet.
Does anyone believe that this deal was more then BIG money.
To HELL with principles, there is BIG MONEY changing hands.
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