Italy, Iran to sign $6bn deal to encourage investments in Tehran

Italy and Iran will sign a memorandum of understanding worth €5 billion ($6 billion) to support Italian investments in Tehran, state TV reported.

Italian media reported an unnamed source from the economy ministry as saying that the MoU between the two sides will be concluded today and includes opening lines of credit worth about €5 billion in order to facilitate Italian companies to investment in Iran.

According to the source, state-owned holding, Invitalia, will lend €5 billion to two Iranian banks, which will in turn support Italian investments in Iran.

The MoU will be signed at the Italian Ministry of Economy’s headquarters in Rome in the presence of Italian Economy Minister, Pier Carlo Padoan and Iran’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Mohammad Khazaei.

Italy is Iran’s first European partner. The total trade volume between the two countries in 2017 amounted to €1.2 billion ($1.44 billion).

Read: IranAir buys 20 planes from Europe