The Europe-Iran Business Forum, a business conference focused on economic
opportunities in Iran, will be held virtually on 14-16 December 2020

The Business Forum is being organized within the "EU Iran Trade Development Project," a European Union funded project under the implementation of "the International Trade Centre", the joint agency of the United Nation and the World Trade Organization

For more information visit https://www.europeiranbusinessforum.com/

Quercus Investment Partners, a renewable energy investment firm based in UK, will invest $600 million in a solar power project in Iran.

Established in 2010, Quercus is regulated by the FCA in UK and has a portfolio of around 40 renewable energy plants across Europe. Iran project is its first investment outside Europe. Its local partner is Sunir which helps to build the plant in conjunction with Spanish firm Bester.

More details follows from Reuters:

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A high ranking delegation from French firms, coordinated by MEDEF International, the French Business Confederation, are visiting Tehran and Isfahan.

MEDEF International is created in 1989 by MEDEF, the French Business Confederation with 750,000 companies. MEDEF International is the most representative organisation of the French private sector at an international level. They attended a seminar at Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, visited Tehran Stocks Exchange and will visit Isfahan.

More details follows from Tehran Times:

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Jens Rönnberg, a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, visited Iran yesterday and attended a meeting with Iranian entrepreneurs and officials from banking, stock exchange, and international commerce sectors.

"We see a huge potential for our services here in Iran as well as for our multinational partners.", he said in an interview with Financial Tribune. "We have filed an application with OFAC and it's pending. ... Our competitors are already here and for OFAC denying us permission would be a competitive disadvantage," he said.

More details from Tehran Times here.

Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible workspace solutions, has entered Iran and just opened their first location in Tehran Valiasr street.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange and based in Luxembourg, Regus has 3,000 business centers, spanning 900 cities across 120 countries. In Tehran they have partnered with Edge Business Group.

To see more details about Regus Iran presence, check their website at iran.regus.com (Make sure to mention referral from PersiaBeat for a great discount on office space!)

Frost & Sullivan, the global consulting and market research firm, has released an interesting report on cloud computing market in Iran.

"Iran is a promising market for the implementation of Cloud. The market has opened up for international players and the hardware market has been gaining traction since 2016.", the report says. The nascent Iranian cloud computing market offers immense potential for future growth. This is subject to a sturdy understanding of the country's long-term economic development, and information and communication technologies (ICT) investment plans.

(If you need to see case studies of foreign companies already active in Iran, check our Directory of Foreign Companies in Iran.)

More details follows:

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Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, has been an optimist about the talks leading to an Iran deal - and he proved to be right.

Back in March 2014, he wrote a piece in the Virgin official website titled "Optimism over Iran". He writes: "One of the most exciting things happening in the world today is Iran being brought into the global community".

"The international community should embrace, welcome and celebrate what looks like being one of the most important foreign policy breakthroughs of our generation", he continues. (Also after Lausanne agreement in April 2015 he writes another piece congratulating all parties involved).

(If you need to see case studies of foreign companies already active in Iran, check our Directory of Foreign Companies in Iran.)

Accor, Europe's largest hotel group by number of rooms, has started the operation of their first four-star Axis hotel in Tehran - Financial Times is reporting.

This is the first time since the revolution 36 years ago that a western company has started managing a hotel in Iran. A five star Axis Prime is also set to open nearby in the same airport complex.

Accor Iran is listed in the Directory of Foreign Companies in Iran with the code ISJ21.

More details follows from Financial Times

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Agah Group, a Tehran-based financial firm, and First Frontier Capital a London-based boutique investment bank, has announced an MOU to work together on producing research reports on the Iranian stock market.

According to Nicholas Banszky Chairman of First Frontier this partnership is in response to an increasing number of requests from their institutional clients who are preparing for a time when relations between the West and Iran are normalized.

First Frontier is listed in the Directory of Foreign Companies in Iran with the code PB206.

More details follows

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Renaissance Capital's Global Chief Economist Charles Robertson has visited Iran back in March 2014 and published an interesting report after his visit.

"The past 10 years have seen global investors reach into previously untapped markets, from local-currency corporate bonds in emerging markets to equities in frontier markets ... We believe Iran would represent the last such opportunity globally, in an investable scenario. No other country is as large or as untapped."

"Unlikely as it may sound, stock market capitalisation is roughly $170bn (similar to Poland) after a wide-ranging privatisation drive over the past decade. The free float on the main market is closer to $30bn, which is above the MSCI free floats of Kuwait and Nigeria. This would make it equivalent to roughly 25% of the MSCI frontier index if all companies qualified for inclusion. On the local exchange's data, daily trading volumes are around $150mn. This compares with $26mn in Nigeria in 2013. There are no Iranian barriers to foreigners investing in the market: foreign brands from Coca-Cola to Danone are in the country."

If you need to see case studies of foreign companies already active in Iran, check our Directory of Foreign Companies in Iran.