International investment is one of the economic and financial phenomena that have spread with the demise of the era of nationalism, and the emergence of the world as a global unit full of features in which affairs of economy, politics, culture, sociology and behavior are overlapped and the belonging be to the world, the state has shifted from being a center of attention to global and international markets and the forces involve in determine the economic decision of the State, with the proliferation of different standards and practices to get it out from its narrow local surroundings to abroad, noting that the communication and technology and the movement of capital, which its appearance was coincided at the end of the eighteenth century and its rapid evolution in the twentieth century during the industrial revolution in Europe, and then enter the many technical areas at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the atheist and the twentieth century, have their main role in bringing about a quick and flowing global changes, led to the emergence of large entities with a profound impact on the global economy, such as the international investment and its alternative formula; as multinational companies
The current time has seen an expansion of these international investments; as they are trying to raise the living standards of the host countries, through capital and technology transfer, and thus lead to a convergence of global living standards; therefore the host countries working to provide the climate for such investment by providing incentives to encourage it ; the exemption of customs, guarantees of foreign investment, and also study the tax method, through reductions in taxes on international investor, it is remarkable that international investors, or these giant entities, may expose to some risks and adventures as a result to face some difficulties and risks related to the proceeds of investment, or political difficulties due to the lack of political stability in the host country.
And due to the importance of international investment in strengthening the economies of the countries , the independent non-governmental organization called ” Basel Anti-Money Laundering(AML) Index ” issued a list of countries that are the most dangerous for the investment where the list included a list of 146 country sequenced according to the proportion of risk and danger in investment in 2017, and the less state in danger, or in other words the safest, is the State of Finland and sequencing No. 146. The most dangerous, or the most risky, is the state of Iran and sequencing No. 1. As for Iraq, and “thanks” for the successive fair governments, is not even on the list! Perhaps this is known to the majority of the followers of Iraqi Affairs, Iraq is, in accordance with rankings of international political experts, classified as a “failed state” by the corruption that has spread in all the joints of the Iraqi state since 2003 to the present day.
But the question that arises in this context, despite the lifting of international sanctions on Iran , that its markets include of 80 million consumer , in January 2016, why did the organization consider Iran the most dangerous country for the international investment ? And it can be summed up for the following reasons:
I. The majority of foreign investments offered in Iran are in a complete contradiction with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, as they go to the oil and gas sector basically and do not serve and benefit the local population only strengthen the authority of the regime and Revolutionary Guards.
Second: Freedoms in Iran is non – existent, and the prevention of freedoms was reached to the extent to prevent the dishes to capture of foreign channels, and restrictions on the Internet, and that individual privacy on the Internet is very risky that can have serious implications for the safety of employees, customers and selling computer products.
III Child labor is widespread in Iran widely, with an estimated number of more than three million working child.
IV – The security in work represents a major challenge, as there is no law that protects workers who refuse to work under dangerous conditions, and that the mortality rate of workers in Iran is eight times higher than the global average. According to a forensic that between May and July 2015, 650 people died as a result of accidents at work, and ten thousand and one hundred and nine were wounded.
V. Discrimination in employment as the prohibition of religious, ethnic minorities, or political opponents and dissidents from the right to practice certain professions, and that there are three million Afghan refugees are in Iran, two million of them in an illegal situation where they are exploited in the work in risky conditions, and low wages, and without warranty or any other rights. That minorities represent 50 per cent of the Iranian population, and are subject to severe discrimination in the area of rights, in the Kurdish areas, for example, the unemployment rate for employment is the highest among other regions, and the standard of living is the minimum, and to engage in a limited education and no adequate infrastructure and basic services.
VI. Foreign investments are concentrated in Tehran, while development require the creation of employment opportunities in the areas inhabited by minorities , accompanied by the imposition of quotas of local workers, for example.
In this context, “Isolde Okaza”, responsible for the policies for the development of the organization “Alliance Sud” (Alliance of the South) noted that Iran ranked 131 in the classification of international Transparency in 2016 in terms of the spread of corruption, of the total 176 countries, and that workers’ rights are non-existent, There is no law in Iran to protect workers from exploitation, discrimination, or abuse, or waste of rights. She said, that sexual harassments are not reported about most of them, but they are present in the workplace.
VII The lack of the rule of law in Iran, arbitrary detention, lack of freedom of expression, justice is not independent. There is no law to protect workers from abuse, discrimination or harassment. And the workers are expelled without being able to defend themselves.
For these reasons altogether, Iran is ranked first in terms of the most dangerous country for the international investment and expelling it.
Iranian Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for research and strategic studies