German economy minister slams 'irresponsible' Deutsche

Bank
FRANKFURT, Oct. 3 (AFP)
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Sunday lashed out at Deutsche Bank's
handling of its troubles, saying "irresponsible" managers had put thousands of jobs at risk.
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry that the bank, which turned speculation into a
business model, is now calling itself a victim of it," Gabriel told reporters, after CEO John
Cryan this week blamed speculators for pushing the embattled lender's share price to a record
low.
Speaking to reporters on his way to Tehran for a trade visit, Gabriel said Deutsche's woes
could be traced back to past mistakes made by the management.
"The scenario is that thousands of people will lose their jobs. They now have to bear the
responsibility for the madness carried out by irresponsible managers," said Gabriel, who is also
Germany's vice-chancellor and leader of the Social Democrats, the junior partner in the
coalition government.
Deutsche Bank has found itself at the centre of a storm ever since the US Department of
Justice last month demanded an unaffordable $14 billion fine over the bank's role in the
subprime mortgage crisis. Fears over Deutsche's financial health and speculation that it might
need a bailout sent its shares plummeting this week.
Its stock recovered on Friday on a report that the bank was close to a settlement with US
authorities to lower the fine to $5.4 billion.
In a further boost to Deutsche's morale, top executives from some of Germany's largest
firms, such as Siemens, Daimler and BASF, rallied behind the lender on Sunday and said
Cryan still had their trust.
Cryan already announced some 9,000 job cuts last year -- nearly a tenth of the bank's
workforce -- as part of a massive overhaul to improve the Deutsche's profitability in an
environment of low interest rates and sluggish global growth.
The German government has strongly denied preparing any rescue plans for Deutsche,
while the bank itself has said it does not need any state aid.

Iran offers hotel tax breaks in bid to boost tourism

TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (AFP)
Iran offered up to 13 years of tax holidays to hoteliers at an international tourism summit
on Sunday as it seeks to boost visitor numbers and revamp its dilapidated hotels.
"All economic activities related to... tourism will enjoy 100 percent tax holidays between
five to 13 years depending on the region," deputy economy minister Mohammad Khazaei told
hoteliers from 18 countries who had gathered in Tehran, many from Europe.
Since the lifting of international sanctions under last year's nuclear deal, the moderate
government of President Hassan Rouhani has made tourism a top priority for rebuilding Iran's
struggling economy.
Visitor numbers have already boomed in recent years thanks to a partial thaw in the
country's relations with the world, rising from 2.2 million annually in 2009 to 5.2 million in
2015. By 2025, they are hoping to reach 20 million visitors a year.
The government hopes to see 300 new hotels over the next five years as it seeks radical
improvements to its low-quality tourist accommodation. It is hoped a rejuvenated tourism
sector can create some 140,000 new jobs, with around half coming from Iran's handicrafts
sector, said the minister for roads and urban development, Abbas Akhoundi. Projects to build
some 170 four- and five-star hotels are already under way, he added. "We are working actively
on 10 to 15 projects in Iran," Christophe Landais, chief operating officer for France's Accor
Hotels in Iran, told AFP.
Accor was the first international company to open hotels after the historic nuclear deal -- an
Ibis and Novotel outside Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport last September.
Landais said the group also hopes to tap the huge religious tourism market of Iran's second
city, Mashhad, which hosts the mausoleum of a key figure in Shiite history, the Eighth Imam.
"Mashhad is the destination for pilgrims. Actually Mashhad receives more pilgrims than
Mecca in Saudi Arabia -- about 25 million," he said. A hotel operator from the United Arab
Emirates said he was also about to sign a contract in Mashhad.
"We've been invited by many, many investors, many developers" to join in partnerships
there, Imad Elias, chief of the Dubai-based Roda Hotels and Resorts, told AFP. "We had Iran as
a potential spot for expansion even before the lifting of sanctions. Iran is a gold mine, a jewel
that needs to be explored," he added.
Akhoundi said the government had also finalised plans for $10 billion worth of rail projects
to help improve the country's connectivity. Tourism made up 7.6 percent of Iran's GDP in 2015,
"which we hope to increase to about nine percent in 2016", he added.