Italy's Immergas set up shop in
Iran in the "annus horribilis" of 2011, the worst year for
sanctions against the country.
The company weathered the storm, however, and now both
population and residential building are growing in Iran, as is
demand for domestic boilers.
Immergas has a turnover of 300 million euros per year and
is headquartered in Brescello, with production facilities in
Italy and Slovakia. It entered Iran in 2009 at the commercial
level and two years later opened a factory in Qazvin, about 150
kilometers from Tehran.
"It wasn't to delocalize," said Immergas chief Pars Roberto
Masarin. "It was to take advantage of opportunities abroad and
to bring jobs to Italy, where most of the finished boilers are
made as well as components for production abroad."
Masarin, who has been working in Iran since 2007, said that
there is Iranian industry in this field but that the listed
company founded in 1964 by the Amadei and Carrara families
offers better safety standards and energy saving.
For now, the facilities produce about 80 pieces a day with
about 15 employees. In pointing to growth potential, Masarin
showed on a graph that from 2000 to 2010 there was 5.2% average
growth. While it is true that the sanctions had a negative
effect on the economic data, the lifting of the embargo will
bring back growth, though not immediately.
He noted that the sanctions led to a "atomization" in
credit, and the system will have to re-adjust itself. Meanwhile,
Iran has the 28th highest GDP in the world, he said, estimating
that it could become one of the top 11 economies with the
greatest growth potential.
Believing in Iran and among the 370 participants of an
Italian mission that ended on Monday evening in Tehran is also
Valter Alberici, head of Piacenza-based Allied International,
which produces connecting pieces for hydrocarbon extraction,
distribution and transformation.
"This is a very interesting market, and one we were
operating in until 2005," Alerici said. The group is now ready
to return to Iran since while in other countries low oil prices
have interrupted investment, Iran needs to move forward for
recovery at the technological level as well - which it was
forced to fall behind on in these years.
"We work everywhere, from China to the Middle East to
Africa," he said, "but Iran is a young country with qualified
human resources."
Pleased with recovery on the horizon is also Flavio
Marabelli, honorary president of Confindustria Marmomacchine,
which has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Iran
Stone Association. The agreement is based on consolidated
relations in a country that - he stressed - holds a great deal
of interest both for its marble and granite resources and as a
consumer of these materials in construction.
"We are here to discuss operating projects," Marabelli
said. "And we plan on returning between January and February."
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
