Ranking Economic Activities and Determining Investment Opportunities in Ardabil Province

Study of empowerment and feasibility of different regions’ economy and its trend is an effective step for regional planning and resource allocation. This research tries to investigate different economic activities in order to determine investment opportunities in Ardabil Province. For ranking of economic activities a mix method of factor analysis and numeric taxonomy together with absolute advantage and comparative advantage were used. The research found that manufacture of grain mill products, sawmilling and planning of wood, manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (in industry sector), production of rain-fed wheat, lentil, rain-fed barley and irrigated wheat (in farming sector), production of apple, pear, grape and walnut (in horticulture sector), production of sheep meat, local cattle meat, mixed cattle meat, and buffalo meat (in livestock breeding sector), and finally wholesale, retail, road transportation, personal residential housing services, and state secondary education (in service sector) were the priority of investment opportunities.