The German company urged Europeans to get their facts correct and more beyond media barriers if they want to invest and succeed in Iran.

Despite extensive propaganda regarding Iran’s isolation as a result of UN sanctions, recent developments indicate the willingness of some western countries, especially the Europeans, to invest in the Islamic state.
The German company VEKA AG investment in a special economic zone near Qom and the statement by the head of the Iran-British Chamber of Commerce, Andrew Philips about adverse consequences of Iran sanctions on British trade prospects, demonstrate the failure of George Bush’s non-stop demonization of Iran for almost a decade.
The German company VEKA AG opened its new warehouse in Qom Salafchegan Special Economic Zone on Wednesday with the cooperation of Iranian officials and the private sector.
Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Thursday, Managing Director Hans-Dieter Hoedl told reporters that the new warehouse will provide faster and more efficient delivery as well as better logistics for the growing network of fabricator partners in Iran.
According to Hoedl, the company is one of the leading global system providers and manufacturers of uPVC profiles. It has been active in the Middle East for more than 15 years, and in particular, it has expanded its activities in Iran in the past 10 years.
Hoedl said that the company supplies to over 50 countries and plans to open its first production plant in Iran within the next three to five years. In 2007, it founded a new company in Kish Free Trade Zone.
Turning to Iran’s ranking by the global consultancy Grant Thornton’s International Business Report as the 14th in the world in terms of the best places for investment and development as well as appropriate climate and substantial trade opportunities, Hoedl stressed that ’the Thornton report confirms that we made the right decision in investing in the Islamic Republic of Iran’.
Also, a member of the company’s board, Bonifatius Eichwald said that the company has 17 production units worldwide, 3,500 employees and almost 750 million euro turnover per annum.
Eichwald said that to further tap the market and enhance the quality of services to its fabricator partners, the company established VEKA Iran Kish LLC. The subsidiary company is currently being manned by commercial and technical Iranian staff, he added.
According to the company’s Middle East and Africa General Manager Venky Kosaraju, “Iran is the region’s economic superpower and for the same reason the company is very positive about its future in the country’s lucrative market.“
On the opening of the first branch of Iran-Europe Commercial Bank in Tehran last Wednesday, Kosaraju said that the new bank will help facilitate the company’s financial transactions with Iranian partners.
Concerning the $25 billion Iran-Switzerland gas contract, Hoedl said Switzerland is a neutral state and can do whatever it wants under international law to meet its energy requirements.
However, Germany is an EU member and will have to abide by EU regulations in signing energy contracts with any country.
Meantime, Eichwald argued that the German company is very optimistic about its business with Iran.
“Doing business in Iran helps the company develop and grow. The company is very optimistic about investing in Iran’s lucrative market. Our advice to other European firms is to conduct their own research and invest in Iran. If they follow suit and invest, they can create a competitive atmosphere and improve our performance,“ he added.
Equally, Kosaraju urged other German companies to do their own research on the Iranian market irrespective of media reports ’as there is a lot of misinformation in the media vis-ˆ-vis business in Iran and investment security here’.
“European companies should get their facts correct and pass these media barriers if they want to invest and succeed in the Islamic Republic,“ he added.
According to Eichwald, the company has found many reasons to open up its production facilities in Iran. “The easiest market for the company has been and still is Russia and the most difficult is the United States due to the ongoing credit crunch and sub-prime market crisis,“ he said.
“However, it is still too early to rank Iran although we are pretty much sure that we can reap the benefits of the ongoing boom in the Iranian housing market,“ he added.
According to Hoedl, his company needs to find new markets and the only way to succeed in Iran is for the government to encourage real estate developers and the public to see the economic and ecological advantages of energy-efficient buildings as well as the benefits of saving energy by constructing standard houses using energy-saving materials.
Eichwald said that the company will strive to boost its market share by 50 percent in Iran and do business with its Iranian partners for years to come.
In conclusion, the German delegate once again urged other European firms to invest in Iran.
Sanctions Hurting British Trade
Head of the Iran-British Chamber of Commerce said London’s policy to support sanctions against Iran is wrong as they undermine the UK’s trade opportunities in the Islamic Republic.
Speaking to Fars News Agency in Tehran, Andrew Philips said that countries such as China and Russia have replaced the UK as Iran’s main trade partners. “Tehran and London chambers of commerce can work out a realistic approach to bilateral trade and play a more effective role in boosting economic ties,“ he said.
According to Philips, “British authorities have no clear picture about the current situation in Iran and by joining the sanctions regime have cut 77 percent in the value of bilateral trade with Iran. This of course is not good news for British merchants.“
He went on to state that ’we have always warned London about the dire consequences of joining the sanctions and believe that such (anti-Iran) policy oes against the interests of our country.“
According to the British official, Americans own shares in UK banks and for the same reason the banks are under constant pressure to limit their business with Iran.“
Philips urged London to review its policies vis-ˆ-vis Iran and not follow in the footsteps of Washington. In his words, ’the sanctions regime is not a smart move at all, and the hope is that the new US president will reconsider policy vis-ˆ-vis Iran.“

Pakistan’s disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan said his confession four years ago to selling nuclear secrets was forced on him, a British newspaper said.
“It was not of my own free will. It was handed into my hand,“ Khan told the Guardian newspaper from his home in Islamabad, where he has been held under house arrest since 2004, Reuters reported.
Khan refused to say whether he was a scapegoat for Pakistani generals involved in the nuclear trade, though western diplomats, local commentators and some politicians have long doubted whether he could have acted alone.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Those things are to forget about,“ Khan said, adding that he would not cooperate with investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Khan told the Guardian that the nuclear technology being traded to Iran or North Korea was freely available in the West.
“They were supplying to us, they were supplying to them ... anyone who could pay,“ he was quoted as saying.
Still admired by many Pakistanis as the father of the country’s atomic bomb, Khan confessed on television in early 2004 to selling nuclear information to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
President Pervez Musharraf once described the episode as the most embarrassing moment of his presidency, but because of Khan’s status he escaped more severe punishment.
A two-month-old coalition government, formed after the defeat of Musharraf’s allies in an election last February, has relaxed some restrictions on Khan, though he remained under detention at home in a smart area of Islamabad, overlooking the Margalla Hills.
Former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who Musharraf overthrew in the 1999 coup and whose party is now a major coalition partner, has said Khan should be freed.
“As long as you are living there is always hope,“ said Khan who has suffered ill-health during his detention.

Palestinians march towards the Sufa crossing during a demonstration in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops used gunfire and teargas on Friday to keep more than 3,000 Hamas supporters from approaching one of the Gaza Strip’s main border crossings with Israel, wounding at least six Palestinians, witnesses said.
Other sources said more than 10,000 Palestinians participated in the rally and the Israeli army wounded seven Palestinians. At least two of the wounded were in a critical condition, Palestinian medical workers said, Reuters reported.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the protest at the Sufa border crossing was part of a stepped up campaign to break Israel’s blockade of the coastal territory. “Hamas will use all means to end the siege ... We will use stronger and more violent means in the future,“ Abu Zuhri said, though he offered not details.
Hamas has mounted several similar protests in recent months, demanding an end to an Israeli-led economic blockade which has increased hardships for the territory’s 1.5 million residents.
Separately, Palestinian medical workers said a 65-year-old woman died on Friday from wounds suffered a day earlier.
The Palestinians said the woman was hit during an Israeli army raid near her home in the southern Gaza Strip.