Salient features

Salient features
* Joint venture with no limit on investment and shareholding
* Proper employment regulations
* 15 years of tax exemption
* Foreign investments up to any ratio (of capital investment)
* Investment guarantee from any viewpoint
* National and international banking facilities
* Offshore banking and non banking credit practices
* No currency restrictions
* 100% repatriation of capital and profit
* Abundant sources of energy
* Vast pool of manpower at all levels of skills and various
trades
* No bureaucratic regulations and avoidance from red tape
* Tourism attractions
* No entry visa requirement for foreign nationals

Administration
* Iran's free zones are supervised by a council consisting of 14
ministers and high ranking officials under the chairmanship of
the President,
* The council has a secretariat, which coordinates the affairs of
the zones. The council's secretary is appointed by the President,
* Each zone is administered by an organization formed in
accordance with the Iran's Commercial Code, having an independent
juridical personality, and
* Those organizations as well as their affiliated companies, are
exempt from laws and regulations normally imposed on government
owned companies.

Geographical advantages
All three Iran's free trade-industrial zones:
- are located at the southern coasts of the country and connected
to the major international waterways via the Persian Gulf, the
Oman Sea and the Indian Ocean,
- have easy access to major air, sea and land transportation
routes at the local, regional, and international levels,
- are in proximity to regional markets with regard to import of
raw materials, and intermediate or manufactured goods, and easy
access to local and neighboring markets specially those of
Western, Southern and Central Asia and the Persian Gulf,
- have reliable public utilities and services,
- have availability to skilled and semi-skilled manpower with
reasonable (competitive) wage demands in the region,
- have appropriate access to abundant sources of energy such as
natural gas (2nd in the world) and crude oil (4th in the world),
- have wealth of mineral resources, unique in the Middle East,
required for industrial production and exports
- have international reputation as major trade centers
- have appropriate climate and tourist attractions.

Incentives

Investment
* Investment independently or in partnership with Iranian
persons,
* No restrictions on the percentage of the share holdings,
* Free repatriation of net profits and capital,
* Exemption from all kinds of taxes for the first 15 years,
* The legal rights of foreign investors are guaranteed; in the
event of nationalization, the authority of each zone shall make
the compensation, and
- Foreign investors may lease land with reasonable rents, and own
the buildings and other installations built on the land.

Imports & exports
* All goods imported into the zones are exempt from customs
duties and commercial benefit tax,
* Exports of goods from the zones to the mainland, to the extent
of the added value plus the value of the used domestic raw
materials, are exempt from customs duties and commercial benefit
tax,
* All goods, shipped to the zones from the mainland, are deemed
domestic transference,

No entry visa requirement
* Foreign nationals who choose direct entry to the zones, do not
need to apply for visa in advance,
* For entry into adjacent zones, a double entry visa can be
obtained from the legations of Iran in any country from which
they wish to apply.

Banking - Facilities
* The offshore banking and non banking credit activities
regulations in the zones are flexible, and compatible with
international offshore banking practices and standards
* Foreign banks and financial institutions may open head offices,
branches, and counters independently or in partnership with
domestic partners,
* No foreign exchange control; the conversion of the Iranian rial
to any other currency is readily permitted, and
* Transfer of foreign currencies and Iranian rials abroad is
permitted.

Engagement of manpower
* All matters related to manpower employment are dealt with
according to the contract and agreement initially concluded
between the employer and the employee,
* The labor regulations practiced in the Free zones are unique
and they are formulated in accordance with ILO recommendations

Arbitration
Any probable disputes will be settled according to the relevant
terms of contract originally concluded between the parties.