How Can Trust Be Built Among Domestic and Foreign Investors? 

Risks and Bold Decisions: The Key to Iran's Economic Transformation and Development؛ From Slogan to Reality

The Iranian economy has been wrestling with numerous opportunities and challenges for years, existing in a battleground of fear and hope. Over these years, slogans such as the necessity for private sector investment, infrastructure development, and economic transformation have held a constant place in policymaking. However, the current reality reveals that achieving these goals has become less feasible and requires practical courage and the genuine involvement of the private sector.

Attracting investment requires a stable and secure environment. Despite Iran’s vast potential in this regard, major challenges—such as economic fluctuations, international sanctions, and administrative complexities—continue to hinder investor entry. While Iran offers remarkable opportunities for investment, unlocking large-scale capital and building investor trust calls for a dynamic, competitive economy supported by transparent policies, streamlined regulations, legal reforms, and strong backing for the private sector. To pave the way for meaningful investment, economic strategies must be shaped to ensure that major investors can enter the domestic market with full confidence and long-term assurance

Amid frequent slogans about economic growth and transformation in Iran, the current reality reveals that without embracing calculated risks and actively engaging the private sector, sustainable development will remain out of reach. It is the bold and risk-taking investor who, through courageous decisions, paves the way for the country’s economic growth.

While no economy can achieve sustainable growth without embracing significant risks, Iran now stands at a critical juncture—between maintaining a less-than-ideal status quo or stepping into a path of transformative change. Economic reforms, infrastructure development, support for the private sector, and building long-term relationships with investors are key measures that can lay the foundation for genuine and lasting economic growth. However, realizing these goals first requires bold decision-making and a fundamental shift in the country’s economic policies.

Infrastructure investment is a real need of the country. 

As mentioned earlier, no country can achieve economic prosperity without sustainable investment and infrastructure development. Iran’s economy requires extensive investment across multiple sectors—from transportation and energy to oil and gas, emerging financial technologies, and the cryptocurrency market. However, what has hindered this progress is the lack of a suitable environment for secure and sustainable investment. Fluctuating policies, legal instability, lack of practical support for investors, and even legal actions against those aiming to elevate the country's economic standards have created significant barriers. Additionally, the entanglement of decision-makers in destructive media and political currents has further discouraged investors from bringing their capital into the domestic market.

The private sector is the key driver of transformation; with boldness, not slogans. 

In all developed economies, the private sector serves as the driving force behind economic growth. In Iran as well, an active and empowered private sector has the potential to play this vital role. However, various limitations—including administrative complexities, extensive government intervention, and the absence of transparent investment frameworks—have hindered the private sector’s strong entry into the economic landscape. Creating a conducive environment for business growth, reducing investment risks, and ensuring economic security for investors can pave the way for greater private sector participation.

Economic transformation cannot remain just a slogan, and its realization requires boldness, tough decisions, and the implementation of programs that attract large investments. Boldness in reforming economic structures from a regulatory perspective, facilitating the entry of bold and specialized private sector players, reducing government intervention, and creating real opportunities for domestic and foreign investors will also be a crucial step in the country’s development path.

Ways to Attract Large Investors

To attract large investors, Iran needs a set of stable and transparent economic policies that can build trust among both domestic and foreign investors. Some of the most important policies required in this regard include the following:

1. Economic Stability and Investment Risk Reduction: Investors seek an environment with minimal economic fluctuations. Reducing inflation, stabilizing exchange rates, and implementing sustainable fiscal policies are among the measures that can reduce investment risks.

2. Legal Reforms and Investment Regulation Facilitation: Creating transparent laws, reducing administrative bureaucracy for company registration and obtaining necessary permits, and ensuring the economic and judicial security of investors are among the measures that can facilitate investor entry.

3. Improving International Relations and Lifting Sanctions: Foreign investment typically depends on access to international financial and banking networks. Therefore, lifting sanctions and establishing economic agreements with other countries can significantly facilitate the entry of foreign investors

4. Supporting the Private Sector and Reducing Government Intervention: The government should play a supervisory role and allow the private sector to take a more active role in the economy. Reducing government interventions and creating a healthy competitive environment can encourage investors to enter the Iranian market.

5. Financial and Tax Incentives: Offering tax exemptions, banking facilities, and government support for investors can increase the attractiveness of investing in Iran. Improving the business environment, reducing bureaucracy, and providing financial and tax incentives for private sector investors are key to overcoming the challenges of the difficult economic conditions.

6. Development of Economic Infrastructure: Investors seek an environment with suitable infrastructure, and the development of transportation, energy, and information technology can create the conditions for the entry of large investments. Of course, large investors themselves are also creators of the country’s vital infrastructure.

7. Embracing Necessary Risks to Achieve Economic Growth: Transforming the economic structure, reducing dependence on oil revenues, diversifying national income sources, and developing industrial and technology-driven sectors—through trust in the private sector—are key strategies for attracting major investors.

8. Accepting Changes in Fiscal and Monetary Policies: This will be possible through the implementation of bold policies to control inflation, create stability in exchange rates, and reform the banking and financial system to attract both domestic and foreign investors, as well as facilitate the entry of innovative businesses and startups into the market.

Transformation begins with belief, and the future starts with action.

The growth of Iran's economy requires bold decisions and fundamental changes, and this path will not be achievable without creating a belief in transformation, accepting logical risks, and building a stable environment for investment to realize a desirable future. Meanwhile, our national economy, in its current condition, needs fundamental changes and the acceptance of significant risks in policymaking more than ever. Without the serious involvement of the private sector and without boldness in decision-making, economic transformation will not be achieved. Therefore, as mentioned in this article, creating transparent structures, providing real support for investors, and reducing bureaucratic barriers can shape a brighter future for the country's economy. A future that is built, not found.