TEHRAN – Representatives of the Tehran private sector gathered on Wednesday for the 18th meeting of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Industry and Mining Committee in which the attendees discussed the challenges facing the private sector.

The problems caused by the government’s interference in the pricing of some products, restrictions on the import of machinery, changes in trade-related regulations, and sudden implementation of new business policies were some of the main issues raised at the said meeting, TCCIMA portal reported.

The committee meeting was attended by industrial officials including Head of TCCIMA’s Industry and Mining Committee Ali Naghib, Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad-Mehdi Baradaran, and Chairman of Iran Home Appliance Industry Association Alireza Daniali.

Speaking at the meeting, Naghib pointed out that Iranian businessmen are currently facing serious problems due to the inflationary conditions and the implementation of new policies, saying that Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Fatemi-Amin is also against such decision-making in the country’s economic sectors.

He underlined the capacities of old and experienced entities in various economic sectors and said that the government can delegate a series of responsibilities to such institutions and take over the supervision role itself.

He further mentioned smuggling as one of the major problems that the country’s businesses are currently struggling with, adding: “The products that are imported through smuggling do not pass the strictures that are applied to domestic production and this ends up harming domestic producers.”

Elsewhere in the gathering, Daniali delivered his speech saying that the government’s interference in the pricing of commodities, especially in the home appliance sector is harming the manufacturers active in this sector.

“Despite the 40-percent inflation and the 57 percent increase in wages, the government has allowed only a 10 percent price increase in some appliances,” Daniali said.

The government should avoid “reinventing the wheel” and follow the path of other countries that recognized the mechanism of supply and demand, he stressed.

EF/MA