Ecolex Logo
The gateway to
environmental law
Search results » Legislation

Foreign Investment and Promotion and Protection Law (FIPPA) of 2002.

Country/Territory
Iran, Islamic Republic of
Document type
Legislation
Date
2002
Source
FAO, FAOLEX
Subject
General
Keyword
Framework law Business/industry/corporations Procedural matters Authorization/permit
Geographical area
Asia, Caspian Sea, Middle East, Near East and North Africa, Persian Gulf, Southern Asia
Abstract

This Law consisting of 30 articles aims at encouraging foreign investments in Iran. Article 1 defines foreign investment as the utilization of foreign capital in new or existing economic enterprises after obtaining the investment license. According to article 3 methods of investment are: (i) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) where the activity of the private sector is permitted; (ii) foreign investment in all sectors within the framework of "Joint-venture", "buy-back" and "build-operate-transfer (BOT)" schemes where the return of capital and profits accrued is solely emanated from the economic performance of the project in which the investment is made, and such return of capital and profit shall not be dependent upon a guarantee by the government, state-owned companies or banks. The Law establishes at article 5 that (i) the Investment and Economic/Technical Organization is the sole official organ in charge of encouraging foreign investments in the country and handling all affairs related to foreign investments; and (ii) the requests made by foreign investors concerning admission, inflow, use, and outflow of capitals must be submitted to the Organization. In order to facilitate and speed up the acceptance of foreign investments in the country, all relevant apparatuses are obliged to introduce a plenipotentiary representative each to the Organization. The introduced representatives are recognized as coordinator liaisons between the Organization and their respective apparatuses or organizations (art.7). The Act establishes that Foreign Investments shall equally enjoy all rights, protections, and facilities available to local investments (art.8). To protect the investments is provided that foreign investment are not exposed to dispossession of property or nationalization except for cases involving national interests and in return for paying compensations (art.9). The methods to introduce foreign capitals into the country are defined at article 11.

Full text
English
Website
investmentpolicy.unctad.org