TEHRAN – The head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has called on the new government to adhere to the business environment improvement law, especially the Article 25 of the mentioned law which includes compensating damages caused by energy shortage.

Speaking at a meeting of the ICCIMA board of directors on Sunday, Samad Hassanzadeh said: “The economy is facing many problems and we don't expect miracles from the new government. But we hope that the government will take steps to correct the problems and the private sector should also take some measures in this regard.”

He mentioned energy imbalance and lack of financial resources as the major problems of the economy and asked the new government to remain committed to the Law on Continuous Improvement of the Business Environment and especially its Article 25, which emphasizes compensation for damages caused by events such as power outages.

“We should increase the productivity of our economic units, but unfortunately, instead of increasing the productivity, some increase the facilities and machinery. However, this is not the right thing to do in the situation of electricity imbalance. Of course, industries must be modernized, if we don't adapt our industries to world technology, our units will be lost and we won't be able to do competitive work,” Hassanzadeh said.

The official noted that power outage for one or two days a week in July caused disruption in the activity of many private sector companies and especially the industrial sector which consequently led to in production.

“In the future, the Iran Chamber will try to bring the concerns of the private sector to the attention of the officials by inviting the ministers and heads of the responsible institutions to the chamber’s meetings, and [this way] the views of the government and the private sector will come closer together than in the past,” the official concluded.

EF/MA