TEHRAN - The 123rd dialogue council of the government and the private sector was held in Tehran on Sunday, in which the country’s recent economic issues were discussed and attendees stressed the need for the government to use the council’s capacities for resolving economic challenges and problems.

The meeting was attended by senior officials including Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi, and Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Samad Hassanzadeh, the ICCIMA portal reported.

In his opening speech as the secretary of the council, Hassanzadeh mentioned some of the concerns of economic operators and businessmen regarding the challenges that dominate the country’s economy, saying: “We hope that the government’s proposed ministers will start working in the shortest time after receiving the vote of confidence from the parliament, and start planning to get out of the current economic situation. In the meantime, the secretariat of the dialogue council will continue its activities and will have the necessary support for the government in this regard.”

Elsewhere in the meeting, Mohammad Zaeri, the head of the business improvement center of the ICCIMA, presented a report on the performance of the provincial councils over the past three years.

Finally, Khandozi talked about major issues and challenges in the country’s economic sectors and noted that the economy ministry has been trying to ensure the interests of both exporters and producers in its policymaking processes.

“In the Ministry of Economy, the Dialogue Council, and the Deregulation Board, efforts were made to explicitly include the interests of producers and exporters in the policy-making process in order to achieve economic development in the face of sanctions,” he said.

EF/MA