TEHRAN – Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has called on the government to support production by pursuing the removal of the U.S. sanction and implementing privatization.

Making the remarks during the 16th ICCIMA board meeting on Sunday, Gholam-Hossein Shafeie warned of the consequences of repeating previous unsuccessful patterns, ICCIMA portal reported.

ICCIMA recommends that the new government purses the lifting of sanctions to attract domestic and foreign investment and enable higher and more sustainable economic growth, while making the economy more competitive by privatizing and handing the management of enterprises to the private sector, Shafeie said.

“If the government bases all its decisions and strategies on creating a favorable business environment, while removing internal and external barriers to production, the economic problems in the country will be solved,” the official stressed.

According to the ICCIMA head, the best solution to current problems is to use all the capacities of the country to increase competitive production and to improve the economy.

“This will mobilize production, create jobs and increase tax revenues, which will improve income distribution and reduce the budget deficit as the main root of inflation,” he said.

“By increasing production, it is possible to pay higher wages and thus improve people's livelihoods,” Shafeie added.

He further mentioned the need for the vaccination of the workforce and said: “We ask the government, which has done a very good job in importing vaccines, to prioritize production line workers, as the social distance is not possible on many production lines.”

Referring to the gas and electricity issues during the winter, the official called on the government and the relevant authorities to take precautionary measures to prevent any problems for the production units.

Shafeie also mentioned the joining of Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and said: “Iran's accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was one of the good news that will create great opportunities for us in the future.”

EF/MA