TEHRAN – Iranian private sector has the capacity to account for up to 55 percent of the country’s total gross domestic production (GDP), IRNA reported on Monday, quoting the head of Isfahan Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.

“We can take advantage of the sanctions opportunity and increase the private sector's share of the economy from the current 15 percent to 50 percent,” Masoud Gol-Shirazi said.

In this regard, chambers of commerce should establish networking among their members and pay more attention to investors and systematization of investment, he stressed.

According to Gol-Shirazi, nowadays, chambers of commerce need to focus on startups, knowledge-based companies, and international business growth centers and lobby for creating communication networks.

“If we want to have a chamber of commerce that is effective for the economy, we need to set up a new paradigm and move on to the second and third generations of chambers that are more focused on networking,” the official stressed.

According to the Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani, the private sector is the main factor for economic growth during the sanctions time. 

In recent years, the government has been counting on the capacities of the country’s private sector in order to boost domestic production and non-oil exports.

In this regard, the industry ministry has been taking necessary measures for supporting the private sector.

Back in August 2019, Rahmani unveiled a master plan for promoting domestic production and increasing exports in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2020).

EF/MA