In response to the article written by Spiegel staff, published in English and German in November & December 2013, National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) asked Spiegel to publish the following text which delineates the facts and provides reliable sources of information about the NDFI as a non-governmental entity. The allegations made by Spiegel staff in the mentioned article of using the funds of NDFI for nuclear and military purposes are baseless and NDFI strongly denies them.
NDFI was established as a public, non-governmental entity on January 5, 2011 to direct a portion of oil and gas revenues towards productive investments and curb the so-called Dutch Disease.
NDFI is functioning based on its Articles of Association which has designed its governing bodies based on the best practices, including Board of Trustees, Supervisory Board and Board of Executive Directors where all activities are disclosed to the public by law and regulations.
However, working in a glass house, all activities including the inflows and outflows of fund, investments, grants, credit allocation, return etc., are regularly reported to the parliament, Board of Trustees, Supervisory Board and to the public through its website and newsletters as well as the media. NDFI prepares periodical (quarterly, semi-annual, nine-month and annual) reports and releases, in details, all the inflows and revenues as well as allocations to projects, their types, sectors and so on.
In addition, NDFI's Board of Executive Directors and Board of Trustees have adopted and approved their Investment Ethics ( http://en.ndf.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=306 ) where all activities are within clear and defined legal bases and governance structures , without pursuing any political interest are carried out in line with domestic and international laws, environment preservation and sustainable development goals. No corruption, money laundry of any forms and non-transparent commercial activities are allowed.
Besides NDFI is a member of International Forum of SWFs and has adopted the GAPP (Santiago Principles). Transparency index of NDFI has improved sharply in the course of last two years, based on SWFI rating. Recently the Peterson Institute for International Economics (www.piie.com ) enhanced the rating of NDFI in its Update Policy Brief.
Some three years from inception, NDFI ever increasing resources exceed 55 billion dollars. This is future generations’ money and its management needs close scrutiny and monitoring by the supervisory authorities as well as the public
During the last three years, NDFI has hired its personnel and developed good communication and information dissemination channels; the Persian and English websites, eleven newsletters, a national and an international conference, numerous reports, interviews, meetings with international organizations, such as IFSWF and IMF, materials published in the Banker, Financial Times FDI, SWFI website and many other media are indicative of its long-run objectives and determination to play an active role in international arena. The report: “Special Edition of NDFI International Conference” (available on http://en.ndf.ir/international-conference/nic-2013/chronicle.aspx ) which was prepared for its 27-28 international conference, put all the activities in a nut shell and is a reliable chronicle of NDFI progress.
No government entity has access to NDFI resources and they have no authority to withdraw from the NDFI accounts. Definition of governmental sector is much tighter in NDFI regulations. Capital share or managerial share of government in an entity more than twenty percent, makes it ineligible to enjoy NDFI loans, facilities or resources.
The other outstanding point is that NDFI was established according to the Fifth Development Plan. Any change to NDFI Articles of Association requires at least two thirds of member of parliament's votes. This gives NDFI more stability and sound footing.
NDFI extends facilities through its agent banks. Names of agent banks as well as amounts of contracts, names of projects, amounts allocated and other things are released and made public.
Based on the facts and figures, all allegations against NDFI in Spiegel article are unjustified. NDFI urges Spiegel to use accurate data and information in future and avoid accusing credible international organizations such as NDFI. Using unknown sources of information instead of making reference to accountable and credible sources and ignoring the official website of NDFI which stands accountable and provides very transparent and authentic data and information, is harm to Spiegel reputation. Please note that you have named yourself "mirror", mirror never lies.
In response to the article written by Spiegel staff, published in English and German in November & December 2013, National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) asked Spiegel to publish the following text which delineates the facts and provides reliable sources of information about the NDFI as a non-governmental entity. The allegations made by Spiegel staff in the mentioned article of using the funds of NDFI for nuclear and military purposes are baseless and NDFI strongly denies them.
NDFI was established as a public, non-governmental entity on January 5, 2011 to direct a portion of oil and gas revenues towards productive investments and curb the so-called Dutch Disease.
NDFI is functioning based on its Articles of Association which has designed its governing bodies based on the best practices, including Board of Trustees, Supervisory Board and Board of Executive Directors where all activities are disclosed to the public by law and regulations.
However, working in a glass house, all activities including the inflows and outflows of fund, investments, grants, credit allocation, return etc., are regularly reported to the parliament, Board of Trustees, Supervisory Board and to the public through its website and newsletters as well as the media. NDFI prepares periodical (quarterly, semi-annual, nine-month and annual) reports and releases, in details, all the inflows and revenues as well as allocations to projects, their types, sectors and so on.
In addition, NDFI's Board of Executive Directors and Board of Trustees have adopted and approved their Investment Ethics ( http://en.ndf.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=306 ) where all activities are within clear and defined legal bases and governance structures , without pursuing any political interest are carried out in line with domestic and international laws, environment preservation and sustainable development goals. No corruption, money laundry of any forms and non-transparent commercial activities are allowed.
Besides NDFI is a member of International Forum of SWFs and has adopted the GAPP (Santiago Principles). Transparency index of NDFI has improved sharply in the course of last two years, based on SWFI rating. Recently the Peterson Institute for International Economics (www.piie.com ) enhanced the rating of NDFI in its Update Policy Brief.
Some three years from inception, NDFI ever increasing resources exceed 55 billion dollars. This is future generations’ money and its management needs close scrutiny and monitoring by the supervisory authorities as well as the public
During the last three years, NDFI has hired its personnel and developed good communication and information dissemination channels; the Persian and English websites, eleven newsletters, a national and an international conference, numerous reports, interviews, meetings with international organizations, such as IFSWF and IMF, materials published in the Banker, Financial Times FDI, SWFI website and many other media are indicative of its long-run objectives and determination to play an active role in international arena. The report: “Special Edition of NDFI International Conference” (available on http://en.ndf.ir/international-conference/nic-2013/chronicle.aspx ) which was prepared for its 27-28 international conference, put all the activities in a nut shell and is a reliable chronicle of NDFI progress.
No government entity has access to NDFI resources and they have no authority to withdraw from the NDFI accounts. Definition of governmental sector is much tighter in NDFI regulations. Capital share or managerial share of government in an entity more than twenty percent, makes it ineligible to enjoy NDFI loans, facilities or resources.
The other outstanding point is that NDFI was established according to the Fifth Development Plan. Any change to NDFI Articles of Association requires at least two thirds of member of parliament's votes. This gives NDFI more stability and sound footing.
NDFI extends facilities through its agent banks. Names of agent banks as well as amounts of contracts, names of projects, amounts allocated and other things are released and made public.
Based on the facts and figures, all allegations against NDFI in Spiegel article are unjustified. NDFI urges Spiegel to use accurate data and information in future and avoid accusing credible international organizations such as NDFI. Using unknown sources of information instead of making reference to accountable and credible sources and ignoring the official website of NDFI which stands accountable and provides very transparent and authentic data and information, is harm to Spiegel reputation. Please note that you have named yourself "mirror", mirror never lies.