Iran Seeks Investment To Drive GDP To 8%
Iran needs $150-B of investment to reach 8% growth a year and lower youth unemployment, President Hassan Rouhani said in an address to Iranian-Americans in New York Saturday.
Last year, Iran created 700,000 new jobs, short of the 800,000 needed for new entrants to the job market, said Pres. Rouhani, who is in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly. He was appealing to the Iranian diaspora for greater involvement in their country as it begins to open up after 39 years.
Iran and the 6 UN world powers reached an historic accord on 14 July in Vienna to curb Iranian nuclear ambitions in exchange for the easing of international sanctions. The accord survived a 60-day review by the US Congress and is now being examined by the Iranian Parliament.
Pres. Rouhani said Iran offered stability in a region that had witnessed wars, revolutions and natural disaster. “In the past we used to export Oil, now we export security.” “Many countries in the region look to Iran’s help to defeat terrorists.”
Separately, the Iranian president said that Iran is willing to talk to the US about a strategy to resolve the Syrian civil war and defeat militants operating in that country.
“Any solution that can lead to peace, stability and security, we will pursue that solution,” Pres. Rouhani said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
Iran’s economy is recovering from tough economic sanctions imposed by the West over concerns that it was pursuing nuclear weapons.
The economy grew 3% in Y 2014 after 2 years of contraction, while the currency has stabilized and inflation slowed to about 15 from 40%. However, youth unemployment still hangs around 24%, and the World Bank (WB) says Iran needs to create 8.5-M new jobs over the next 2 years.
Iran expects about $30-B of funds to be unfrozen and repatriated to its central bank by January 2016 at the latest as economic sanctions are eased after July’s nuclear deal, according to the vice governor for foreign exchange affairs at the central bank.
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