Rail projects worth nearly $66m put into operation

TEHRAN – Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami inaugurated 89 rail industry projects worth 2.77 trillion rials (about $65.9 million) on Monday on the occasion of the Transport Week, IRNA reported.

Inaugurated in a virtual ceremony, the projects include 12 projects in the field of technology and infrastructure worth 2.21 trillion rials (about $52.6 million), and 77 projects in the field of building and station services worth 565 billion rials (about $13 million).

The inauguration ceremony was also attended by the Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI) Saeed Rasouli.

Back in November, Deputy Transport Minister Kheirollah Khademi said some 3956 kilometers of roads and railways worth 240 trillion rials (about $5.7 billion) were going to be inaugurated throughout the country by the end of the Iranian calendar year 1400 (March 2022).

According to Khademi, over 3400 km of new railways are under construction across the country, of which eight projects with a length of 1560 km are the Transport Ministry’s priority.

The development of the railway sector is one of the macro policies of the Iranian government as it has been emphasized by the general policies of the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021).

Advantages such as consuming less fuel and creating less pollution as well as high safety attaches priority to the railway when compared to some other transportation systems, and makes its development economically viable.

In this regard, in addition to infrastructure projects, RAI has also been implementing new programs for replacing old wagons and locomotives with new ones to reduce the age of the country’s fleet.

As reported, some 521 units of various types of wagons and locomotives worth 13.5 trillion rials (about $322.8 million) have been produced in the country and joined the national railway fleet since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19).

Source: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/456061/Rail-projects-worth-nearly-66m-put-into-operation

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Iran-Pakistan online business forum to be held next week

TEHRAN- In a bid to expand trade relations between Iran and Pakistan, Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (TCCIMA), and Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will hold an Iran-Pakistan business forum via webinar on December 22.

The online forum will cover issues related to bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, tourism, transportation, food and medicine, agriculture, health, leather and garments.

TCCIMA has also held a webinar on the expansion of trade with Pakistan in collaboration with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on December 9.

In the webinar, which was attended by the officials and representatives of the two countries’ private sectors, the two sides discussed ways for the expansion of trade ties.

TCCIMA Head Masoud Khansari, Head of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tariq Misbah, and TCCIMA Deputy Head for International Affairs Hesamedin Hallaj were among the attendees to this online event.

During the webinar, the two sides underlined the problems caused by the U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic in the economic relations between the two countries and stressed the need for using barter trade, removal of non-tariff barriers, the expansion of cross-border and preferential trade as ways of increasing trade exchanges.

The two sides criticized the incompatibility of the volume of trade between Iran and Pakistan with the capacities and potentials of the two countries and called for boosting trade relations to over $5 billion.

Pakistan has a relatively large consumer market with a population of over 200 million.

According to the World Trade Organization, imports constitute over 66 percent of Pakistan’s trade.

Expansion of trade with Pakistan, and boosting exports to this neighbor is one of Iran’s priorities.

In a visit to Pakistan in mid-November, Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboum met with Pakistan’s deputy economic affairs minister to discuss the expansion of trade ties with the neighboring country.

In the meeting, the representatives of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, and the Energy Ministry held talks with their Pakistani counterparts to discuss a variety of issues including electricity exports, and maritime, road, and rail transportation cooperation.

The TPO head had visited Pakistan along with a high-ranking delegation headed by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Iran’s exports to Pakistan in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) was $1.18 billion, but in the meantime, financial and banking problems have still created obstacles in the way of trade relations with this country.

And although due to the banking and financial problems, barter trade with Pakistan is still emphasized by Iran; experts and those active in the economic fields believe that Iran should seriously pursue the idea of a bilateral joint bank with Pakistan, while taking trade facilitation measures in line with signing agreements.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/455804/Iran-Pakistan-online-business-forum-to-be-held-next-week

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Uzbekistan eager for investment in Iran’s Chabahar port

TEHRAN – Iran, India, and Uzbekistan held an online meeting on cooperation in Iran’s Chabahar Port on Monday, during which the Uzbek side expressed willingness for cooperation in Chabahar Port’s development projects, IRIB reported.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Iran’s Deputy Transport Minister Shahram Adamnejad, India’s secretary (shipping) Sanjeev Ranjan, and Uzbekistan’s Deputy Transport Minister D. Dehkanov.

According to Deputy Transport Minister Shahram Adamnejad, Uzbekistan is eager for using the transportation and logistics capacities of Chabahar port for developing its economic activities in the region.

During the meeting, the participants also discussed joint use of the port for trade and transit purposes and to enhance regional connectivity.

“Chabahar port is a safe and very convenient port for the transit purposes, and neighboring countries and the countries in the region can benefit from investing in this port,” Adamnejad said.

For his part, Dehkanov also praised the infrastructure and facilities provided in Chabahar port and suggested that a joint working group be formed with representatives of Iran and Uzbekistan to carefully review the programs and prepare operational plans for Uzbekistan’s presence in Chabahar’s Shahid Beheshti port.

Chabahar Port, the only Iranian ocean port, is a strategic port with unique opportunities that can attract investments from Iranian and foreign private sectors.

India currently operates one of the terminals of Chabahar port and offers loading and unloading services in the mentioned terminal.

The strategic project has been given a waiver from sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Iran.

The development of the Chabahar Port is important for the economic development of regional countries and in this regard endorsing regional agreements with neighboring countries is of significant importance for Iran so that it can increase its transit share to connect the shores of the Indian Ocean to Russia, northern Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/455815/Uzbekistan-eager-for-investment-in-Iran-s-Chabahar-port

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‘Is Exxon a Survivor?’ The Oil Giant Is at a Crossroads.

Exxon Mobil is struggling to find its footing as demand for oil and gas falls and world leaders and businesses pledge to fight climate change.

Credit…Christopher Gregory for The New York Times

By Clifford Krauss

HOUSTON — Over the last 135 years, Exxon Mobil has survived hostile governments, ill-fated investments and the catastrophic Exxon Valdez oil spill. Through it all, the oil company made bundles of money.

But suddenly Exxon is slipping badly, its long latent vulnerabilities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic and technological shifts that promise to transform the energy world because of growing concerns about climate change.

The company, for decades one of the most profitable and valuable American businesses, lost $2.4 billion in the first nine months of the year, and its share price is down about 35 percent this year. In August, Exxon was tossed out of the Dow Jones industrial average, replaced by Salesforce, a software company. The change symbolized the passing of the baton from Big Oil to an increasingly dominant technology industry.

“Is Exxon a survivor?” asked Jennifer Rowland, an energy analyst at Edward Jones. “Of course they are, with great global assets, great people, great technical know-how. But the question really is, can they thrive? There is a lot of skepticism about that right now.”

Exxon is under growing pressure from investors. D.E. Shaw, a longtime shareholder that recently increased its stake in Exxon, is demanding that the company cut costs and improve its environmental record, according to a person briefed on the matter. Another activist investor, Engine No. 1, is pushing for similar changes in an effort backed by the California State Teachers Retirement System and the Church of England. And on Wednesday, the New York State comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, said the state’s $226 billion pension fund would sell shares in oil and gas companies that did not move fast enough to reduce emissions.

Of course, every oil company is struggling with the collapse in energy demand this year and as world leaders, including President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., pledge to address climate change. In addition, many utilities, automakers and other businesses have pledged to greatly reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels, the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and have embraced wind and solar power and electric vehicles.

European companies like Royal Dutch Shell and BP have already begun to pivot away from fossil fuels. But Exxon, like most American oil companies, has doubled down on its commitment to oil and gas and is making relatively small investments in technologies that could help slow down climate change.

As recently as last month, Exxon reaffirmed it plans to increase fossil fuel production, though at a slower pace. The company is investing billions of dollars to produce oil and gas in the Permian Basin, which straddles Texas and New Mexico, and in offshore fields in Guyana, Brazil and Mozambique.

Exxon committed to its strategy even as it acknowledged that one of its previous big bets did not go well. Exxon said it would write down the value of its natural gas assets, most of which it bought around 2010, by up to $20 billion. The company is also laying off about 14,000 workers, or 15 percent of its total, over the next year or so as it seeks to cut costs and protect a dividend that it had increased every year for nearly four decades until this year.

 

Read more at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/10/business/energy-environment/exxon-mobil-pandemic-energy-transition.html?ref=oembed

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Iran Is Ripe for Bitcoin Adoption, Even as Government Clamps Down on Mining

Iran-based bitcoiner Zahra Amini was used to answering questions on cryptocurrencies, but usually about their relationship with crime. So when a 70-year-old man recently asked her to explain crypto because he no longer wanted to rely on the national rial, Amini felt something had changed.
“If people that age are thinking about storing their wealth in anything rather than the national rial, it’s because they are just losing confidence in it, and more and more people are looking for alternatives,” Amini told CoinDesk.
Cryptocurrency is increasingly relevant in Iran as the country suffers from an economic downturn fueled by U.S. sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Bitcoin’s independence from government control makes it an attractive option for individuals hoping to hold on to the value of their earnings as the rial suffers from inflation.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/iran-is-ripe-for-bitcoin-adoption-even-as-government-clamps-down-on-mining

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Iran, Russia launch container shipping line in Caspian Sea

Moscow (IP) – The unloading of the first test container cargo was carried out within the framework of the new services of Caspian container shipping lines company for transporting goods in Armada Port between Astrakhan of Russia and Iran.

Iran Press/ Europe: The first special work vessel in the container shipping line between Astrakhan and Iran in the Caspian Sea arrived in Astrakhan on Saturday from the International North-South Transport Corridor.

The ship’s next voyage is scheduled for mid-December.

This is the first dedicated ship in the Iran-Astrakhan freight container shipping line.

Astrakhan Governor Igor Babushkin said the government was trying to launch the maritime section of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which is a strategic move at the Russian federal level.

He added that “we are acting within the framework of the instructions of the Russian president, who supported the establishment of a special economic zone in the Astrakhan region.”

Babushkin stated that the importance of the International North-South Transport Corridor is increasing today due to the increase in trade between Russia and Europe with India and the great interest of Western European companies to send goods to Central Asian countries.

Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Yury Tsvetkov also said: “We are planning for the rapid development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which, of course, needs to solve many related issues such as dredging, construction of container terminals, and the development of Astrakhan ports.”

He stated that the development of information and digital technology in the container shipping line has been approved by the government of the Russian Federation, which will be implemented in the next stage.

Tsvetkov pointed out that this is done jointly by private investment companies with the support of the governments of Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan, India, and Germany.

The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Moscow Kazem Jalali also stated that the International North-South Transport Corridor, as a long-term investment, will play an important role in the development of trade between the two countries and the route will have a bright future.

According to Jalali, the project aims to create a transport infrastructure to transport cargo from Asia to Europe and vice versa through Iranian and Russian ports in the Caspian Sea.

The port of Olya of Astrakhan and the port of Lagan of Kalmykia are to be part of the International North-South Transport Corridor.

With the implementation of this project, Northern Europe will be connected to East Asia through Iran, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Russia, and the initial goal written for this project is the annual transit of five million tons of goods through this route.

Source: https://iranpress.com/content/30705

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Iran, Turkmenistan can boost annual trade to $5b: Official

IRNA

By Sadeq Dehqan

The vice chairman of the Iran-Turkmenistan Joint Chamber of Commerce said, “With the removal of obstacles between the two countries, the Iran-Turkmenistan annual trade can reach $5 billion in less than two years from the current $200 million.”

Majid Jalili told Iran Daily that trade between Tehran and Ashgabat has sharply decreased since 2016 due to gas disputes, adding that to meet its needs, the country has been attracted to other markets in the region, especially Russia and Turkey.

He noted, “This is while Turkmen businessmen are very interested in working with Iranian businessmen and they are willing to cooperate with Iranian traders in meeting their needs and conducting more economic cooperation.”

It was in the winter of 2016 that the gas dispute between Turkmenistan and Iran escalated and Turkmenistan cut off gas supplies to Iran, Jalili said.

He continued that this comes at a time when, under a 25-year agreement signed between Tehran and Ashgabat in 1997, Turkmenistan is required to export between eight billion cubic meters (bcm) and 10 bcm of gas per year to Iran.

The Turkmens have officially said in a statement issued by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs that “the gas cut from Iran has economic reasons,” because the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has not made the necessary arrangements to pay its gas debts since 2013.

On the other hand, the NIGC announced in a statement, “Behaviors contrary to the principles of the contract were committed by the Turkmen company, including cutting off the gas flow in the cold days of 2007, which led to accepting the unreasonable request of the Turkmen Gas Company and increasing gas prices ninefold.”

When the two countries’ gas disputes were not resolved, Turkmenistan took the case to arbitration, where the court has reportedly announced its decision that Iran must pay $2 billion to Turkmenistan.

The gas dispute has caused tensions in the economic and political relations between the two countries, said Jalili, adding that with the court ruling and the payment of Iran’s gas debts to Turkmenistan, the two countries’ political and economic relations will naturally be restored and trade between the two countries will be back to normal.

Iran’s exports to Turkmenistan are very diverse: Food, petrochemicals, steel products, construction materials and techno-engineering services are among Iran’s major export items to Turkmenistan.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, some restrictions are imposed on border crossings and, accordingly, commercial activity at the borders has significantly decreased, he said, adding that the activity at the border market is not in a favorable condition.

“Of course, in my opinion, the main source of the decrease in trade volume between the two countries is related to the gas dispute, which we hope will be resolved soon,” Jalili noted.

In the past, there was good shipping activity between the two countries; ships regularly moved cargo between the ports of Turkmenistan and Iranian ports of Anzali and Noshahr, which have also been overshadowed by the gas dispute, he added.

Source: http://www.irandaily.ir/News/277822

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Iran’s agricultural exports grow by 13% in value

Tehran (IP) – Deputy Head of Customs Administration of Iran announced that exports of agricultural products in the last eight months compared to the same period last Iranian year has increased by 27% in terms of weight and 13% in terms of value.

Iran Press/ Iran news: Deputy Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mehrdad Jamal Arvanaghi stated that the total export of agricultural products in the last eight months reached 5.45 million tons worth 3,842,135,000 dollars. In the same period last year, this figure was 4,285,000 tons worth 3.4 billion dollars.

According to the latest statistics provided by IRICA, Iran’s foreign trade in the past eight months was 97.7 million tons of goods worth 44.6 billion dollars.

Accordingly, the number of imports of goods during this period was 21.8 million tons worth 23.1 billion dollars, which shows a decrease of one percent in weight and 18 percent in value compared to the same period last Iranian year.

Source: https://iranpress.com/content/30782

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WhatsApp users may lose all access if they don’t accept ‘updated’ terms of service in 2021

The new terms for the privacy rules and service will be introduced in 2021 and failure in accepting them will lead to loss of access after February 8.

The new information will also provide users more information about WhatsApp’s service and how the company processes user data.

WhatsApp users will have to accept the new terms of service if they want to continue using the service. The new terms for the privacy rules and service will be introduced in 2021 and failure in accepting them will lead to loss of access after February 8. According to a report by WABetaInfo, the company is bringing new Terms and Privacy Policy Updates. The new update has stated that WhatsApp will ‘delete’ users’ accounts if they do not agree. The company has also confirmed the news that users will have to comply with terms and conditions.

The report shared screenshots that indicated the recent updates in the Terms and Privacy Policy soon to be rolled out by the Facebook-owned company. The new information will also provide users more information about WhatsApp’s service and how the company processes user data. Apart from this, information on how businesses on WhatsApp can make use of services hosted by Facebook to store and manage chats will also be given in the new policy update.

 

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/whatsapp-users-may-lose-all-access-if-they-dont-accept-updated-terms-of-service-in-2021/2143472/

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