European firm thrives in Iran despite sanctions
British executive Robert Mills says his express delivery firm is enjoying explosive growth in Iran, despite tightening international sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear plans.
Major powers push for new Iran sanctionsWith a longstanding U.S. embargo barring two key rivals from entering the world's fourth-largest crude producer, DHL Express claims a share of at least 60 percent of what Mills called one of the region's fastest-growing markets for the sector.
"Business is good, business is improving year-on-year," enthused the 40-year-old country manager of DHL, a unit of mail and logistics group Deutsche Post.
"After China and Russia in the 80s and 90s it is one of the biggest untapped markets left in terms of consumers."
A service provider which has no major dealings with Iranian banks, which are increasingly shunned by their Western counterparts, DHL's experience is not representative of the environment facing foreign companies in Iran.
But its position in transport does illustrate how Iran's windfall gains from high oil prices are, to some extent, cushioning the sanctions' impact on the country.
For Mills, financial and other punitive measures imposed by the United Nations and the United States since late 2006 over Tehran's nuclear programme have not slowed business: "I can't feel them, I can't see them," he said.
A country of 70 million, Iran is the second-largest producer in the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Imports have soared this decade, rising by 14 percent to nearly $50 billion (25 billion pounds) in the 2006-07 Iranian year.
Mills said the tonnage handled by DHL jumped by 50 percent in two years and the company has doubled its turnover in Iran since 2005 on the back of rising imports of everything from telecommunications equipment to car spare parts.
"We have had quite an explosion of growth ... Iran is a big importing country."
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