https://www.einfachmehrlesen.de https://www.einfachmehrlesen.de/what-doing-business-in-iran-is-like-for-germans <h3> What doing business in Iran is like for Germans, Deutsche Welle TV Interview vom 4.1.2018 </h3> <div> <img src="https://cdn.website-editor.net/s/62946a24dea4452eaa1907142c18fb65/dms3rep/multi/DW+Business+%E2%80%93+Europe+++Asia+++All+media+content+++DW+++04+01+2018.png"/> </div> <div data-rss-type="text"> Recent protests in Iran appear to have been motivated by economic frustrations. German businesses are investing in the <div> country, but so far it's nowhere near enough to overcome Iran's economic stagnation, analysts say. </div> <div> Thomas Gehbauer is a head of project coordination for German medical equipment supplier Blue Ocean Fourth Millennium. He has been </div> <div> doing business in Iran for many years, likes and respects the country and its people. </div> <div> But as in many countries, "corruption, bureaucracy, and slow procedures" are some of the barriers to doing business in Iran, Gehbauer told </div> <div> DW. </div> <div> In addition, it can be difficult for German companies to do business there "because we only have smaller [German] regional banks that </div> <div> accept transactions from Iran — banks that don't do any business with the US," Gehbauer said. "The bigger banks are afraid to get sued [if </div> <div> the process payments to or from Iran], because they also do business in the US. Doing business is not so easy if you can't find a bank </div> <div> willing to process your financial transactions." </div> <div> As of 2015, Germany and Europe no longer apply economic sanctions against Iran, but the US does, and that's why German banks shy </div> <div> away from the perceived "country risk" associated with Iran, to Gehbauer's frustration: "I think we should be more independent of </div> <div> American policy than that. There is no legal restriction for German banks to accept transactions from Iranian banks." </div> <div>    </div> <div> <b> Iran hearts Germany </b> </div> <div> Notwithstanding all that, Gehbauer said business ties between Iran and Germany are important to Iran's development: "'Made in </div> <div> Germany' has a very good reputation in Iran. As a German, I'm always very well treated when I'm there." The problems are between Iran </div> <div> and the US, not between Iran and Germany, he said. </div> <div> As for the recent protests, Gehbauer thinks they're due to increases in food prices and living expenses: "I'm pretty sure that if we have a </div> <div> stable economy in Iran, the protests will be gone real soon." He doesn't think the protests will change anything long-term. In any event, he </div> <div> said, "I'm pretty sure the Iranians are smart enough to know what's best for them in the future." </div> <div> The population in Iran is relatively young, and its expectations for a near-term improvement living standards may be "a little too high," </div> <div> Gehbauer said: "Iran needs more investment. In some sectors, like renewable energy, in addition to better equipment, Iran needs a transfer </div> <div> of know-how from Europe" to improve its performance, because it has no history with the relevant technologies. But in other areas, such as </div> <div> medical care, all they need is more modern equipment — the Iranians have very well trained personnel in that sector. </div> <div> Shiraz, a town of about 2 million residents in southern Fars province in Iran, boasts a lot of archaeological and architectural treasures, as well as fine landscapes. </div> <div> Tourism from Europe to Iran has yet to surge, but could in future improve the country's balance of payments, if Western perceptions of the country change </div> <div> Their medical expertise may prove all too relevant: Tehran, an enormous city of around 12 million people, is in an area prone </div> <div> to earthquakes, and a lot of its buildings aren't built to withstand really strong quakes. If and when a powerful earthquake hits the city, </div> <div> many buildings could collapse, and the number of casualties could be enormous. </div> <div>    </div> <div> <b> It's the economy </b> </div> <div> Other analysts agreed that the recent protests in Iran appear to have been motivated primarily by anger at the poor state of the economy </div> <div> and were sparked by the announcement of new austerity measures by the Iranian government. </div> <div> "People on the streets of Tehran understand the frustration of young people in a country where the unemployment rate is 30 percent for </div> <div> the young — and they're highly educated, Iran has a very good education system, so a lot of people are underemployed as well," said Eric </div> <div> Randolph, a correspondent for AFP based in Iran. "There are no silver bullets; Iran faces a lot of structural problems." </div> <div> There was a year-on-year increase in foreign direct investment of 65 percent from 2015 to 2016, from $2 billion (€1.66 billion) in 2015 to </div> <div> $3.4 billion in 2016, after economic sanctions against Iran were lifted in the wake of the internationally negotiated deal in mid-2015 that </div> <div> limited Iran's nuclear enrichment capacities. But that isn't very much in relation to a population of 81.4 million people — it works out to </div> <div> about $41 per person. </div> <div> Amir Alizadeh, the deputy managing director of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce in Tehran, also told DW that he believed the </div> <div> main factor that led to the protests was the continuing economic recession. </div> <div> In economic terms, Iran has had very difficult years recently, Alizadeh said, plagued as it was by stagflation, i.e. high inflation at same time </div> <div> as recession. Inflation is currently running at about 10 percent. The manufacturing sector has been particularly hard hit by the recession, </div> <div> he said. </div> <div> <br/> </div> <div> <b> Uneven growth </b> </div> <div> Last year, on paper, there was an increase of 12 percent in Iran's GDP, but that was due mostly to increased oil prices and oil sales, not to </div> <div> any improvement in the wider economy: "Industry is not growing at that pace," so it's hard for people to experience the headline economic </div> <div> growth in a tangible way. </div> <div> Echoing Gehbauer's remarks, Alizadeh said there were plenty of European and German firms that would like to invest more in Iran, but </div> <div> many believe they cannot do so yet, because international banks based in the US are legally prevented by the US government from doing </div> <div> business in Iran, due to ongoing US economic sanctions against the country. This causes difficulties in arranging appropriate financing </div> <div> packages for foreign investors. </div> <div> In addition, the Iranian government has "some homework to do" in Iran, including fighting corruption more effectively, making it easier to </div> <div> do business, and liberalizing markets, Alizadeh said. </div> <div> Germany is a very important economic partner for Iran, he added, because it was the locomotive of Iran's industrialization in the late 19th </div> <div> and early 20th centuries, and has been a key partner historically for Iranian industry. The reservoir of goodwill is deep, and the potential </div> <div> for future business is enormous: "Iranian companies are really eager and willing to work with German companies as partners." </div> <div> <br/> </div> </div> Fri, 05 Jan 2018 11:12:58 GMT https://www.einfachmehrlesen.de/what-doing-business-in-iran-is-like-for-germans thumbnail main image