To strengthen Iran and Luxembourg relations, both nations need banking ties which can be realized through opening of representative offices and bank branches in both countries. In this way, the banking ties will expand gradually.

In a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Luxembourg, the CBI governor Dr. Seif welcomed the idea of opening bank branches and agencies in Iran and expressed Iranian banks’ willingness to  establish branches and representations in Luxembourg and said: “Banking relations will develop concurrent with the establishment of correspondent relations. Iran and Luxembourg economies are complementary to each other. Since Luxembourg is seeking new consumer markets and investment opportunities, and Iran needs to attract foreign investors, it is necessary for both sides to take advantage of the economic potential.

 British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, and Skills Sajid Javid expressed UK support for Iran’s bid to join the World Trade Organization, announcing his plans to lead a delegation of businesspeople to Tehran in April.

During a meeting with Iran’s Chargé d'Affaires Mohammad Hassan Habibollahzadeh in London on Friday, Javid hailed the opportunities in the Iranian market and described the Islamic Republic as one of world's emerging markets.

The business secretary said UK backs Iran to join the WTO, noting that an economic delegation will pay a visit to Tehran soon.

Executives from across all spheres of trade, including oil, gas, financial services, infrastructure, and engineering sectors, will be accompanying Javid on the trip.

The Iranian official, for his part, said Tehran would take the necessary measures to provide appropriate services to British companies to help facilitate their participation in the economic projects in Iran.

Habibollahzadeh underlined that the removal of banking restrictions following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would encourage bilateral trade and investment.

Early in March, UK Export Finance, the country’s export credit agency, and the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran, affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce, signed a memorandum of understanding on insurance coverage and financing of traders to facilitate exports and trade exchanges between the two countries.

According to Financial Times, Javid said that London should make the best use of Iran’s opportunities as the future of the country as a trading nation cannot solely depend on “familiar trading partners.”

“We can’t afford to stick with what we know. We have to secure new markets for British goods, new sources of foreign investment. Trade opens doors. It provides a platform on which to build diplomatic relations. It creates influence and leverage when it comes to negotiation and builds a bulwark against political instability.”

Keywords: Iran,Investment,British,Trade delegation

Sena Gbedemah, Delay and Project Governance expert for Ankura in Saudi Arabia, outlines how good project governance can help to avoid common pitfalls and ensure optimum project performance.

As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia embarks on some of history’s most ambitious construction programmes, effective project governance is essential to success. Gigaprojects are so-called for a reason: everything is supersized, from the scale of the developments to the pace of delivery, not to mention the budgets.

However, the greater the ambition, the higher the stakes. With the world’s eyes watching, KSA must uphold its reputation as well as protect the $3 trillion it has dedicated to realising Vision 2030, its socio-economic restructuring plan.

Why projects fail
Ankura’s expertise in project governance and acting as delay and quantum experts in arbitration and litigation on capital projects has helped hundreds of clients turn around projects and resolve disputes.

This observation is confirmed by countless thought leadership articles, as well as the findings of enquiries following the failure of large public projects.

For example, the UK’s National Audit Office cited a lack of project governance, amongst other factors, for the failure of the c. $20.6 billion London Underground PPP contracts.

Governance defined
What do we mean by governance? Project governance has developed from the broader concepts of corporate governance. The Association of Project Management defines governance as: “The framework of authority and accountability that defines and controls the outputs, outcomes, and benefits from projects, programmes, and portfolios.”

Zooming in
We can split project governance into four areas:

1) Alignment of the project portfolio with the organisation’s profitability, customer service, reputation, and sustainability objectives. We have seen, for example, that NEOM has embedded its objective of creating a new model for sustainable living by specifying that it will be powered entirely by renewable sources.

2) Project sponsorship is the integration of project objectives with the organisation’s strategy. Project sponsors develop the business case and scope of the project, report progress and issues to the board and obtain authority and/or decisions.

3) Project management effectiveness, i.e. a team’s ability to deliver a project. This depends on having experienced and competent personnel and equipping them with the right resources, processes and management systems, such as planning, cost, risk management, and change control systems.

4) Reliable and timely disclosure and reporting by project management and the supply chain. With a regime of timely disclosure, the board will be able to make appropriate decisions, like authorising additional funds for changes and claims to the project.

Introducing giga-governance for gigaprojects in Saudi
The question for gigaprojects is not whether but how to embed the four elements of project governance throughout the organisation and the supply chain.

The good news is that there are plenty of frameworks for project governance. The Association for Project Management’s (APM) ‘guide to governance of project management’ is a good start.

The better news is that most available frameworks are scalable — the same factors apply no matter the project size. However, good project governance also requires resources, buy-in, and planning.

At Ankura, our project governance model is based on our experience advising and acting on disputes on some of the world’s largest capital projects.

It also draws from industry-recognised protocols and codes of practice on disputes and project management, including:

Association of Project Management Body of Knowledge
Society of Construction Law – Delay and Disruption Protocol
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering – Forensic Scheduling Protocol
Publications by the UK’s Office of Government Commerce (OGC) – The OGC was responsible for improving value for money by driving up standards and capability in government procurement.
Rising demand
In KSA, Ankura has seen an uptick in demand for project governance auditing and other services. This shows that the construction sector realises the benefits of getting frameworks in place early.

We are also increasingly playing an active part in the governance process itself. For example, we are involved in reviewing, recommending and implementing (including training) processes from inception to delivery to help projects stay on track.

Other in-demand services include contract reviews, which help identify opportunities and risks at an early stage to maximise success and avoid disputes.

Meanwhile, our forecasting service is helping to drive project management effectiveness by providing independent schedule forecasts, simulations and capital cost projections for individual projects or entire portfolios.

A ticking clock
With ambitious projects come ambitious timelines. With seven years to go, effective project corporate governance is imperative for the successful delivery of the Vision 2030 gigaprojects.

With good project governance, KSA will not only set a global example by what it has achieved but will provide a good practice guide to the industry as a whole.

Sources:

https://www.constructionweekonline.com

Iran's petrochemical industry will most likely have attracted  10 billion dollars in foreign investments by the end of the current Iranian calendar to March 20, 2018, a senior oil official said.
Amir Hossein Zamani Nia, Deputy petroleum minister in international affairs and trading, said to World Business Year  the fact that talks with several foreign investors are nearly complete, 10 billion dollars will be invested in petrochemical development projects by foreign financiers in Iran before the end of this calendar year.

He predicted that the current calendar year  will be a booming year for the petrochemical sector of Iran, adding negotiations with foreign developers are on the go in all sectors of the oil industry including the petrochemical sector.
A senior diplomat, Zamani Nia said the talks will, hopefully, lead to 50 to 80 billion dollars of investment in oil, gas and petrochemical projects in Iran.

"Petrochemical industry is a popular sector in which return on investment is guaranteed and security of investment is one of its major features," he said.

Head of Monetary and Banking Research Institute (MBRI) said opening branches of Iranian and European banks had been placed on the agenda.

Speaking at the 4th Iran-Europe Trade and Banking Conference in the IRIB International Hall, Ali Divandari said the event mainly seeks to review process of reforms in Iran’s banking system in order to speed up connections to the international system.

In the meantime, issues like future of the industry, launch of Iranian banks in Europe and meeting international standards will be surveyed by experts during the two-day conference.

MBRI managing director described Europe as the second largest trade partner of Iran after Asia and expressed optimism that the event will prove effective in facilitating trade and banking relations between the two sides.

He noted that MBRI, as the research arm of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), had put on the agenda serious measures to reconnect Iran’s banking system to the global one as a means of paving the path for expansion of trade and banking ties.

“Investment opportunities in Iran, especially in infrastructure and energy sectors, will be introduced to foreign guests of the conference,” Divandari underscored.

He reiterated that compliance to international rules and regulations and combating money laundering were major prerequisites to reconnection of Iran to the International banking system.

The Monetary and Banking Research Institute is holding the 4th Iran-Europe Trade and Banking Conference in the IRIB International Hall on 29-30 April 2017.

The main objectives of the conference include the exchange of ideas between various scholars and specialists from different economic fields; active participation of reputable domestic and foreign firms; holding of multilateral meetings between European individuals, companies and institutions and their Iranian counterparts; provision of a platform for meeting potential customers and trade partners; building private and personal communication networks; and also introduction of various products and services.

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Switzerland's MSC - the world's second largest shipping company - plans to expand its services to Iran.

Iran said on Sunday that the world’s second largest shipping company MSC from Switzerland will soon expand its services to the country’s ports.

Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development in a statement said an agreement had been signed with the MSC by means of which the global shipping giant will increase calls to Iran’s Bandar Abbas, Chabahar and Bandar Imam ports.

The agreement – that has been signed with the Ports and Maritime Organization Iran - will also facilitate the shipment of Iranian goods from international ports to the country through MSC.   

This came at a time that Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann is in Iran on a landmark three-day visit.   

The media reported in January that the MSC had started calling at the country’s southern ports after a hiatus of six years.

This came after an MSC container ship has docked at Shahid Rajaie port in the Persian Gulf coastal city of Bandar Abbas.

Iran’s shipping industry became the target of a series of US-led sanctions over the past few years that disrupted the traffic of ships to the country’s ports.

Those sanctions were officially removed last July when Iran and P5+1 group of countries – the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - marked a milestone with their conclusion of nuclear negotiations.

Iran relies on container and bulk carriers to transport much of its basic needs, including food and consumer goods. Those willing to risk the liability associated with the Iran trade faced further deterrents as they could not get insurance coverage.