<p dir="LTR"><span>TEHRAN TIMES – The Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) will invest 60 trillion rials (about $1.5 billion) to implement 18 projects by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span> “These projects will create 8,000 direct and indirect jobs,” IRNA quoted IDRO Chairman Mansour Moazzami as saying on Saturday.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>As he further explained, implementing an automatic transmission project in Zanjan province, establishing a tire company in Sistan-Baluchestan province and another one in Lorestan province, founding special economic zones in Semnan province and Fars province are among the planned projects.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span> “IDRO has created some 250 projects in the country, which are currently being privatized,” Moazzami added.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span> “The organization have made 20 trillion rials (about $527 million) of investments in deprived areas of Iran, among them it can be referred to the mentioned tire company in the capital city of Sistan-Baluchestan province, Zabol,” he said.</span></p> <p dir="LTR"><span>The IDRO chairman also informed that 9 out of 28 MOUs signed with foreign partners after the removal of sanctions (in January 2016) have been already finalized.</span></p>