India, Kazakhstan negotiating to invest in Iran's steel sector
"We have announced readiness to accept Indian investment in the steel sector and they are planned to start activity in the country," Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Iran's deputy industry minister Mehdi Karbasian as saying on March 24.
"We are also negotiating with Kazakh companies to invest in our steel, zinc, and aluminum projects," he added.
A large number of representatives of foreign mining companies have visited Iran over the past year and have announced readiness to invest in Iran, he said.
In 2014, Karbasian said that the number of foreign companies which are ready to participate in Iran's mining projects is on the rise. One of the main policies of the administration is to encourage Iranian investors living overseas to participate in domestic development projects, Karbasian said. About 45 producers sent representatives to a steel conference in Tehran last year to study export opportunities and investing in Iran's domestic industry.
Iran holds three percent of the world's mineral reserves which puts the country first in the Middle East and third in Asia.
Iran ranks among the 15 major mineral-rich countries of the world and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan.
Important mines of Iran include coal, metallic minerals, sand and gravel, chemical minerals and salt.
The country has the world's largest zinc and second largest copper deposits and ranks ninth for its iron reserves.