A foreign delegation of asset managers, including Americans, have visited Tehran Stock Exchange for the second time in recent weeks as interest is building in a country being billed as the latest attractive emerging market. 

A group of 17 investment managers from Russia, Britain, Egypt, Greece, Switzerland, the US, Turkey, Italy and the UAE visited the bourse on Monday and held talks with its chief Hassan Qalibaf-Asl, the financial daily Jahan-e Sanaat reported.

They were briefed on the mechanisms of the trading and the companies listed as well as the process of foreign investment, capital market structure and financial operations, the paper said.

“A new global attitude toward the economic and investment environment in Iran is taking shape, with the bourse being one of main focuses of attention,” it added.

More than 400 financial entities are listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of more than $104 billion.

Many others are waiting for initial public offering, including refineries, petrochemical plants and other big businesses as part of a massive privatization program which could catapult TSE to the top of the rung among Middle East’s stock exchanges.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Iranian dealers place orders at the Tehran Stock Exchange. ©UPI[/caption]

The bourse has scorched to several record highs in recent years even under the most intensified series of US-led sanctions.

It is bolstered by its absorption of the massive investment in Iran’s property market which has stagnated since 2008 but foreign investment is less than one percent for now.

Anticipation is building as ongoing nuclear negotiations near the decisive moment. Optimists hope an agreement would unleash a wave of investment by foreigners and the Iranians abroad. The less positive are disappointed by a perceived shift in US position, and its "excessive demands".

Differences have boiled down to the most contentious issues of Iran's military sites which the West has reportedly demanded to visit and interview with Iranian scientists. Tehran has strongly dismissed both.

Several European delegations have recently visited Iran to scope up opportunities in the country. Last month, Switzerland’s business representatives visited Iran to explore the potential for trade.

By Press TV