According to the Public Relations and International Affairs of the Kish Free Zone Organization, Mohammad Kabiri, CEO of the organization, on Tuesday, 19 Aban, at the inauguration ceremony of 17 projects and the commencement of execution of four other projects with a total investment of about 114 thousand billion tomans, presented a report on the performance of the past two years and the island’s development plans. The ceremony, on the occasion of Kish Week, was held in the Ibn Sina Hall of the Kish International Convention Center with the online presence of Masoud Pezeshkian, the President, Seyed Ali Madani-zadeh, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, and Hossein Forouzan, Secretary of the High Council of Free and Special Economic Zones.
Kabiri, at the start of his remarks, thanking the accompaniment of the people, locals and economic activists of the island during the difficult months past, stated: despite the restrictions and consequences arising from wartime conditions, the trend of Kish’s economic and developmental activities has not stopped and the amount of investment on the island over the past 24 months has increased to more than seven times the same period.
He, describing the actions taken in the field of protecting public rights and supporting investment, added: during this period, about 652 hectares of land with a value of more than 700 thousand billion tomans have been returned to the public treasury and by removing the obstacles of halted projects, more than 300 thousand billion tomans of capital has once again returned to the cycle of the island’s economic activities.
The CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organization also, referring to the organization’s infrastructural actions, said: through development projects in the water and electricity supply sectors, the production imbalance of these two sectors on the island has been resolved and increasing the capacity of infrastructures to meet Kish’s future needs is also on the agenda.
Kabiri, continuing, referring to the existence of more than six thousand free and special economic zones in the world, stated: the experience of successful zones such as Shenzhen in China and the Dubai International Financial Centre shows that having an agile management structure, appropriate authorities, specialized regulations and suitable infrastructures plays an important role in attracting investment and economic development.
He, outlining the results of reviewing the experience of free zones worldwide, added: among the 65 indicators reviewed, five common features were identified including tax exemptions, customs incentives, independent regulation in monetary, financial and insurance fields, provision of suitable infrastructures and having a sustainable and independent revenue system.
The CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organization, referring to the country’s need to attract extensive investment, emphasized: given the limitations of existing structures and the volume of capital required for development and compensation for economic damages, utilizing successful international experiences and reforming the regulatory system can provide the ground for attracting more investment.
He, stressing the necessity of implementing Article 65 of the Permanent Provisions of the Country’s Development Plans Law, stated: achieving integrated management and granting free zones legal authorities are prerequisites for increasing managerial agility and reducing executive obstacles and can enhance the competitive ability of these zones.
Kabiri, requesting a pilot implementation of this legal article in Kish or another free zone in the country, added: full implementation of Article 65, alongside the realization of government support approvals in tax, customs, insurance and banking areas, can provide the basis for overcoming difficult economic conditions and accepting national and international missions.
He, explaining the three proposed missions of the Kish Free Zone, said: the first mission is the establishment of an intelligent and sustainable governance system, within which the implementation of a multi-layered social security system will also be pursued.
The CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organization called the creation of a financial free zone the second proposed mission and stated: with the formation of this structure, the capacity to attract investment between 500 million to five billion dollars over the next year is predicted under the supervision and guidance of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Secretariat of the High Council of Free Zones.
He enumerated the development of activities related to artificial intelligence and the digital economy as the third mission and added: in cooperation with the Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the creation of a specialized zone in the field of artificial intelligence and support for digital economy actors in Kish is being pursued.
Kabiri, in another part of his speech, referring to the progress of the island’s construction and investment projects, stated: so far in the fourteenth government, 73 projects with a value of more than 80 thousand billion tomans have been inaugurated in Kish. Also for today’s ceremony, 17 projects with an investment of 54 thousand 642 billion tomans are ready for opening and four other projects with an investment of 59 thousand 900 billion tomans are ready to commence execution.
He, describing the infrastructural projects of this phase, said: with the commissioning of new units, 38 megawatts will be added to the capacity of the Kish gas power plant and a solar power plant with a capacity of 3.2 megawatts will also be commissioned. It is also planned that with the completion of solar energy development projects, the share of clean energy in the island’s electricity production will increase to 10 percent by the end of the government.
The CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organization announced a 10 thousand cubic meter increase in the island’s daily water production capacity and added: with the commissioning of new facilities, Kish’s water production capacity will reach 40 thousand cubic meters per day. In addition, the commissioning of seven new communication towers will also help upgrade Kish and Hendurabi’s communication infrastructures.
He, referring to the development of clean transport infrastructures, said: establishing electric vehicle charging stations and providing the possibility of free charging for these vehicles are among the actions taken to support clean transport and implement the Clean Air Law on the island.
Kabiri continued to refer to economic and industrial projects and said: with the start of the first Kish Research and Technology Fund, the ground for providing more than three thousand billion tomans of financial services will be created. Also, industrial projects of two companies active in the oil and gas sector with a total investment of more than 165 million dollars will be inaugurated.
He, emphasizing the importance of providing housing for the island’s residents, added: the indigenous housing project aimed at meeting the needs of Kish’s locals and the service housing project with the approach of providing housing at cost price for eligible persons are among the programs whose executive operations will begin.
The CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organization also, referring to the Nik-Tabar housing cooperative plan, stated: with the commissioning of this plan, the ground will be provided for the allocation of more than 300 residential units to active members in the island’s public transportation sector.
Kabiri, describing tourism projects, also said: the first Kish International Hospitality School will be inaugurated and three hotel complexes with a total investment of more than 20 thousand billion tomans will enter the trial operation phase so that their official opening can be arranged in the near future.
He concluded by thanking the support of the President, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Secretariat of the High Council of Free Zones and also the cooperation of the private sector, the people, locals and the island’s executive bodies, emphasizing the continuation of support for investment and completion of Kish’s priority projects and requesting the issuance of operation orders for projects ready to open and the commencement of execution of new projects.
In continuation of the ceremony, by order of the President, 17 construction, economic and infrastructural projects on Kish Island were put into operation and execution of four other projects began.