A practitioner's guide to foreign direct investment under fippa for foreign investors: framework, opportunities, figures and entry routes.
Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act
FIPPA provides a domestic framework for the admission and protection of qualifying foreign investment in Iran. Its protections depend on the investment licence and compliance with the applicable requirements.
Reviewed by Global Investment Iran advisers.
Screen the sector for restrictions, confirm the holding jurisdiction has a bilateral investment treaty with Iran and fix the capital-import route.
Technical and financial feasibility with employment, technology-transfer and export figures — the criteria the Board actually scores.
Application filed with the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran with investor corporate documents and source-of-funds evidence.
Board review and issuance of the investment licence naming the foreign shareholder and registered capital.
Inbound capital registered with the central bank so that later profit and capital transfers are covered by the licence.
| Item | Quotation basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility study | Request a scoped quotation | Scales with project size |
| FIPPA application advisory | Request a scoped quotation | Filing and Board follow-up |
| Legalisation & translation | Request a scoped quotation | Per corporate investor |
| Entity registration (parallel) | Request a scoped quotation | PJSC or LLC |
| Annual FIPPA reporting | Request a scoped quotation | Capital and performance filings |
Send us your sector, ownership structure and target timeline and we will return a scoped fee and schedule.
Request a quoteFIPPA provides a domestic framework for the admission and protection of qualifying foreign investment in Iran. Its protections depend on the investment licence and compliance with the applicable requirements.
OIETAI and the Foreign Investment Board handle the investment-licensing process. Incorporation, activity permissions and cross-border sanctions review are separate matters.
FIPPA guarantees three things ordinary company law cannot give a foreign investor: the right to transfer principal and profit out of Iran, equal treatment with domestic investors, and compensation at fair value if the investment is nationalised.
Protection attaches to registered capital only. Capital brought in outside the registered channel sits outside the guarantee and cannot be repatriated under the Act.
The Board weighs employment created, technology transferred, export potential and the share of the domestic market the project would take. Projects that displace an existing domestic producer without adding capability face the longest review.
A complete file reduces avoidable requests for clarification, but the authority determines the review period and any additional evidence needed.
Most investors hold through a Private Joint Stock Company or a limited liability company, with the FIPPA licence naming the foreign shareholder directly. Free-zone entities are used where the operation is export-oriented or import-assembly based.
The holding jurisdiction matters: routing through a country with a bilateral investment treaty and a double-tax agreement with Iran improves both arbitration access and withholding treatment.
Check that the licence names the correct investor, project and capital components, and keep evidence of each registered inflow. Company incorporation and FIPPA licensing are separate procedures.
Domestic investment protection does not override sanctions, provide an accepting bank or promise a particular exchange rate. Confirm transfer conditions and any required approval before committing funds.
Yes. FIPPA permits up to 100% foreign ownership in most sectors. Restrictions apply mainly to upstream oil and gas ownership, defence, and some media and banking activities.
A complete application is typically decided in 45 to 90 days. Incomplete feasibility or source-of-funds documentation is the most common cause of delay.
FIPPA guarantees transfer of registered capital and profit. The practical constraint is FX availability and the settlement channel, so the capital import account should be structured before the first transfer.
No. FIPPA is domestic Iranian law and does not address third-country sanctions, which must be managed through counterparty screening and payment-channel design.
We advise foreign investors on market entry, licensing and structuring in Iran.
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