There are 2,000 auto parts manufacturers in the country of which 100 units are large and the rest are medium- and small-scale units.

Second International Auto Parts Fair will open today in Tehran with the participation of over 500 domestic and foreign companies.
The firms from countries such as Britain, China, France, India, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates will display their latest industrial achievements and products at the exhibit which will run from December 18 through 21.
The exhibition will be held in 11 halls covering an area of 30,000 sq.m. Auto parts manufacturers, companies rendering technical/engineering services, consultant engineers, banks and financial institutions and investment companies are taking part in the fair.
Those interested in further information can refer to the website of the fair www.iran.autopart.com
Meanwhile, secretary of Iran’s Auto Parts Manufacturers Association has announced that 80 percent of the auto parts required by domestic auto manufacturers are produced at home.
Mohammad Reza Najafimanesh told IRNA Monday that there are 2,000 auto parts manufacturers in the country of which 100 units are large and the rest are medium- and small-scale units. About 650 units are members of the association.
Iran’s auto manufacturing industry, born in 1957 with the assembling of Jeep, is currently the 16th largest in the world, producing one million buses, lorries and cars. Iran is a leading auto manufacturer among Muslim and regional states. The country is home to Middle East’s largest automaker Iran Khodro. Though, Iranian auto parts manufacturers are not as advanced as car manufacturers, they are trying to find a foothold in the regional markets.

The country's new policy on Asian states would help remove problems in investing in oil projects.

Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari has announced plans to set up an international investment fund for development of South Pars gas field and encouraged all countries, particularly those in the Persian Gulf, to participate in the initiative.
“We could sell stakes to our people and neighboring states in lucrative South Pars projects or motivate them to participate in the plan by fixing the minimum banking rate when the outlining of different stages of South Pars Investment Fund ends,“ Pars Special Economic Energy Zone Organization quoted the minister as saying.
“South Pars projects, particularly LNG projects, are profitable and attractive to domestic and overseas investors,“ PIN quoted the minister as saying.
Nozari assessed international sanctions on investment in Iran as ineffective and said, “To me, boycotts harm only the states that impose them as they are deprived of being present in Iran’s unique market.“
The minister added the country’s new policy on Asian states would help remove problems in investing in oil projects.
He assured that development plans would not be postponed under any circumstances.
China was the largest foreign investor in Iran during 2000-2007 followed by France and Germany, according to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) data on foreign investments in the Islamic state by major industrial countries.

More than 70 kinds of minerals are being extracted in Iran, observed managing director of Iran Minerals Production and Procurement Company, Ardeshir Sa’ad-Mohammadi.
In an interview with ISNA, he underlined the need to expand cooperation with overseas firms, introduce the country’s mineral capacity as well as move away from conventional methods to mechanized technology.
The official noted that negotiations are underway with Australian Union Capital Ltd. on the construction of a lead and zinc factory in Mehdiabad Mine in Yazd province.
“Once the deal is finalized, the Australian side would be committed to establishing the factory and we would supply the requirements for zinc soil,“ he said.
Iran welcomes the participation of foreign companies in all mining projects, he added, noting that at present a number of overseas firms are involved in mining activities in Iran.
He stated that Chinese companies are also cooperating in Khamroud and Parvardeh 4 mines in Tabas, Yazd province and coke-making projects in Zarand, Kerman province.
“The Germans are active in potash mining in Khor and Bianak, Isfahan province,“ he noted.
“Experts from Canada and Germany cooperated with Iranian side in drawing up a plan for Angouran Mine in Zanjan province as well,“ he noted.
Sa’ad-Mohammadi said that in addition to improving the quality of products, ground should be created for processing minerals, increasing exports and meeting the needs of local industries.
He referred to the companies’ future strategies as exploring and equipping new mines and ceding them to the private sector.
The official added that the company has so far handed over most of the coal mines and key ornamental stone mines to the private sector, adding tender announcements of seven mines were recently published in the newspapers as well.
Sa’ad Mohammadi said last year that as per the directive of Article 44 of the Constitution, Mineral Production and Procurement Company of Iran will contract the private sector to conduct all its new mining activities.

The Bush administration’s new policy of sanctioning Iranian banks is facing a critical challenge as financial institutions in Russia, China, and much of the Middle East have declined to cut ties with the banks, analysts and diplomats say.
Even Afghanistan and Iraq--two countries that depend heavily on the United States--have declined to take action against Bank Melli, Iran’s largest public financial institution, which was among the first foreign banks to open branches in Baghdad and Kabul.
“Nothing is happening,“ said Sinan Shabibi, the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, in a recent telephone interview with Boston Globe.
World reaction to the US sanctions on Bank Melli, which operates as Iran’s central bank overseas, will determine whether President Bush’s new tool against Iran is a failure or a success, analysts say.
US officials insist that they have already seen progress. Since they blacklisted Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat in October, banks in Japan, India, and Europe have quietly followed suit.
However, US officials want the UN Security Council to add Bank Melli to a list of sanctioned Iranian entities, forcing countries around the world to stop doing business with it and starving Iran of access to foreign capital.
Russia and China, two Security Council members that can block the move, have called the US bank sanctions arbitrary and unhelpful.
“I don’t think that sanctions against a bank is something that we have to concentrate on,“ said a Kremlin official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
Bank sanctions have become more controversial since a new National Intelligence Estimate last week concluded that Iran had no nuclear weapons program. Even before the report became public, bank sanctions stoked resentment among countries who believed that President Bush was overstepping his authority.
After the United States blacklisted Bank Melli, Russian President Vladimir Putin portrayed the action as senseless and dangerous, like ’running around like a mad man with a blade in one’s hand’.
Bao-dong Wang, press counselor for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China does not support the ’arbitrary imposition of sanctions’.
The bank itself, an 80-year-old, state-run institution with 3,500 branches and affiliates worldwide, says it engages only in widely accepted financial services for lawful clients.
“By failing to provide any evidence, the US Treasury has unjustly denied [Bank Melli] the basic and natural right to defend itself against serious allegations of this nature and strongly supports our contention that no such evidence in fact exists,“ the bank said in a statement on its website.

Imported software products are not original because Iran does not observe copyright regulations.

Some $25 million worth of software products were exported in 2006-7 of which 70 percent were undeclared, a member of Board of Directors of the Union of Exporters of Iranian Software said.
Speaking to ISNA, Mohammad Reza Hosseini stated that there are no difficulties in producing software products in the country.
“By raising public awareness to respect copyright law and shunning the purchase of pirated software and management enforcement we can compete with the developed countries.“
He said that currently, there is no law on importing software and most of the imported software products are not original because Iran does not observe copyright regulations.
“Most of software companies do not declare their exact export figure to evade taxes,“ he added.
He noted that the Union has decided to increase the quality of quantity of its products, adding holding fairs and marketing are good means of boosting the industry.
He noted that some 30 to 50 percent of the exhibition’s costs will be borne by Iran’s Trade Development Organization.
Referring to the quality of domestic software products, he stated that these products have average quality and some steps should be taken in management, implementation and software engineering to improve them.
Meanwhile, a member of Board of Directors of the union, Mohammad Reza Hosseini said that a trade committee has been established in the union to help boost exports.
Until March, at least three specialized delegations will be sent to three countries selected from among Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Syria and Lebanon, he noted.
He further said that the union welcomes the participation of qualified software firms in Cebit Fair in Germany.

All transportation indices have improved across the country in the past year, said minister for roads and transportation.
Speaking to IRNA on the occasion of Transportation Day on Monday, Mohammad Rahmati explained that development indices in the transportation sector have increased in the past year. Thanks to the cooperation of all those involved in the sector, the negative indices such as road accidents have declined, he added.
He referred to easing passenger and cargo transportation in roads, conducting training courses for drivers, constructing about 1,000-1,300 kilometers of new roads per year and renovating the transportation fleet as some of the tasks undertaken by the ministry.
The minister pointed out that over 15,000 kilometers of rural roads have been asphalted in the past two years, adding presently there are 65,000 kilometers of asphalt rural roads nationwide. Access roads to the villages with over 100 households have also been macadamized, he underlined.
Regarding the physical progress of transportation projects approved during the provincial visits by the cabinet, he said that fortunately, most of the projects aimed at alleviating poverty have been implemented or have witnessed good progress.
Also, deputy road minister said in a ceremony to mark Transportation Week (December 17-24) that road accidents have declined by 18.7 percent nationwide during March-November.
Mohammad Bakhoraei explained that the sector has witnessed a growth of 16.2 percent and 3.6 percent in terms of cargo and passenger transportation respectively during the period. He elaborated that cargo transit has increased by 11 percent during December 2006-2007.
About 19 veteran officials in the road transportation sector and 32 exemplary road maintenance workers were commended and presented plaques of honor at the ceremony.