Financial Tribune- The Iranian mining sector requires close to $50 billion in foreign investment, said the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade. Mehdi Karbasian made the statement on the sidelines of the Second Iran Mines and Mining Industries Summit on Saturday, IRNA reported.�

"About $30 billion of the figure will need to be invested in the steel industry and its downstream sectors, and the rest in copper, aluminum and other industries," added Karbasian, who is also the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization.

The summit, otherwise known as IMIS 2016, was attended by top government officials, including Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and Governor of Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif.

Foreign attendees at the two-day event include managing director of Germany�s SMS Group GmbH, Burkhard Dahmen; executive vice president of Finland�s Outotec, Kalle Harkki; and CEO of Russia�s JSC EXIAR, Alexey Tyupanov. The previous edition of the summit was held in May 2015.