Free zones draw 11m tourists
Eleven million tourists visited Iran’s free zones during the year to March 2017, said the secretary of Iran’s High Council of Free Trade and Special Economic Zones.
Morteza Bank added: “We should take further steps to raise the number of visitors, particularly foreign tourists, in free zones.”
He said expanding accommodations is one of the steps in line with this.
Numerous accommodation sites and handicraft markets have been established in many villages of the free zones, he added.
“In addition to Kish Island, we have good facilities in Anzali, Qeshm, Aras and Chabahar free zones.
“We managed to attract 3.5 million domestic visitors to Anzali Port during the year to March 2017.”
Since President Hassan Rouhani assumed office in 2013, Iran’s free trade zones have entered a new era. The Rouhani administration has placed plans on the agenda to visit investment projects in these zones since Morteza Bank was appointed as the secretary of the High Council for Free Zones.
Islamic Republic has adopted a sustainable strategy to develop the free trade zones to attract foreign capital and boost trade with other countries.
Iran’s free zones have the potential to be transformed into regional export and import gateways, especially for Iran’s neighboring countries on the southern rim of the Persian Gulf.
Scientists monitoring earth’s climate and environment have delivered a cascade of grim news in 2017, adding to the urgency of UN talks in Bonn next week tasked with ramping up efforts to tame global warming.
According to phy.org, here’s a summary of recent findings:
1.1 degrees
Earth’s average surface temperature last year was a record 1.1°C above the preindustrial era.
Our planet’s rising fever is caused by the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) cast off when fossil fuels are burned to produce energy.
Sixteen of the hottest years on record have occurred since the start of the 21st century.
The 196-nation Paris Agreement calls on humanity to block the rise in temperature at ‘well below’ 2.0°C compared to pre-industrial levels, and to consider setting the cap at 1.5°C.
403.3 ppm
The atmospheric concentration of CO2 reached an average of 403.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, the highest level in at least 800,000 years.
Last month, CO2 — three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions — hit nearly 407 ppm. Prior to industrialization,