TEHRAN, Oct. 6--State monopoly over the power sector has ended, announced Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf on Wednesday.
"State control over the electricity sector is no longer viewed as a necessity and it is even considered unjustified given that it (the government) is unable to secure funds required for related projects," Bitaraf told Fars news agency.
In fact, said the minister, reducing state involvement in key economic sectors is today considered a necessity rather than an option.
"Shortage of funds is slowing down development of the power sector by impeding timely implementation of related schemes such as construction of more power plants and dams," Bitaraf noted, adding private investments would expedite this process.
"According to Article 44 of the Constitution, the government can control the economy as long as it does not turn into a big employer inflicting huge losses on the economy both in terms of funds and manpower."
Bitaraf said that based on the same concept and given the economic status quo, the State Expediency Council has given the green light for private companies to undertake power plant projects.
"The SEC is also studying a plan according to which the private sector will be allowed to undertake implementation of up to 65 percent of all economic projects," the minister said, noting the that if in the past state involvement in the macro economy was considered an exigency, today that view has totally reversed.
The move is part of a large-scale plan to privatize the economy.

TEHRAN, Oct. 6--German deputy minister of economy and labor announced that his country is backing Iran's membership bid to the World Trade Organization (WTO), reported IRNA.
The Persian Daily Abrar-e Eqtesadi on Wednesday quoted Alfred Tacke as saying that economic officials of European countries were eager to increase the number of members of WTO.
"Germany also has done its utmost to pave the way for Iran's membership," he said.
Alluding to Iran-Germany trade ties, Tacke said that the ties have been constructive.
He viewed with importance Germany's entry into the Iranian market, which, he said, is one of the biggest in the Middle East.
"Germany has taken into consideration direct investment in Iran," he said, adding that raising the current level of investment is on Germany's economic agenda.
Tacke added that Iran has the economic potentials to attract investment.
The German deputy minister concluded by saying that the world economy has grown by 4.5 percent and was expected to grow even further in the near future.

TEHRAN, Oct. 6--An official said here Tuesday that monetary laws are necessary for the well being of the national economy, IRNA reported.
Following the approval of the money-laundering bill some changes will be made to taxation and trade regimes, Deputy Economic and Finance Minister Saeed Shirkavand observed. Speaking at a meeting of administrative and planning personnel from Tehran province, he added that initially the concept of money laundering was introduced in the economic lexicon after the Watergate scandal in the US and is mostly prevalent in dictatorships and feudal systems.
He said money laundering is an 'independent offense'. Any act of investing in the economy using funds or assets acquired illegally is known as money laundering, the official pointed out.
Activities by individuals, whether in an organized or unorganized manner, who engage in acts which are illegal or have not been adequately defined by law and leads to creation of funds, will be considered money-laundering.
"Funds earned from money-laundering can be put to good use in the economy or be converted to 'clean money' over which the law has been silent," he added.
He noted that depending on the nature of money laundering, the pernicious deed has been divided into three categories of red, black and gray money.
Iran, due to relatively low level of interdependence with the international economy and existence of anti-money-laundering laws ranked 78 in the study conducted worldwide to asses the effectiveness of such regulations.
Money-laundering has withering effects including instability in the economy, weakening state control of the economy, change of trend of investments from production to stocks, impairing private sector activities and impeding competition, unintended consequences on banking, interest and foreign exchange rates and higher investments risk for the country, Shirkavand underscored.
Implementing money-laundering laws will lead to higher state revenues, strengthening competition, improving the campaign against goods, currency and drug smuggling in addition to leading to speedy trials of organized crime gangs in courts.

The agreement sets the framework for exchanging know-how, bolstering education cooperation and supplying spare parts, raw materials and products.

ISFAHAN, Oct. 6--Mobarakeh Steel Mills Complex and the Saudi firm, Hadeed Company reached an agreement in this central provincial capital on Wednesday to expand cooperation between the two sides, announced deputy head of the complex for technology affairs.
According to Mehr news agency, Mohammad Ali Shahriari said that the chairman of Hadeed's board of directors, Mohammad Saleh Al-Jabr, who is heading a high-ranking delegation to Mobarakeh and the managing director of the complex, Mahmoud Eslamian signed the document for the two sides.
"The agreement sets the framework for exchanging know-how, bolstering education cooperation and supplying spare parts, raw materials and products," he said.
Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed) is a major subsidiary of SABIC, a leading Saudi Arabian petrochemical company.
Hadeed was established in 1983.
The company is currently producing 2.8 million tons of long products such as rolling stocks and single strand bar mill as well as one million tons of flat products including hot and cold rolled and galvanized coils.

More than 1.3 billion stalks of flowers are produced annually in Iran.

TEHRAN, Oct. 6--Pakdasht, an area in suburban Tehran, is hosted Iran's first national flower festival.
The two-day event was inaugurated on Tuesday in a ceremony attended by several top state officials.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said acute shortage of water has turned the focus of agricultural policy-makers to expansion of greenhouse cultivation, giving urban dwellers an alternative farming method.
Industrial cultivation, to date, remains the dominant farming technique employed in Iran.
According to Iran Daily's reporter, Mousavi-Lari stressed the importance of state support for boosting Iran's horticulture industry with an eye on global markets by providing extensive facilities to potential exporters.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Agriculture Jihad Minister for Horticultural Affairs Mohammad-Ali Tahmasbi said almost 4,270 hectares of land are under cultivation of decorative flora, of which 2,000 hectares are in greenhouses and the rest are in open spaces.
Tahmasbi said so far companies from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and France have invested in Iran's horticulture sector, noting that the Europeans treat flowers as a means of boosting human morale and a major hard currency earner.
This, he said, has prompted many European governments to make large investments in the sector.
"More than 1.3 billion stalks of flowers are produced annually in Iran," said the official, adding the Dutch are constructing a hi-tech greenhouse in Pakdasht and the ministry has applied for nearly 2,500 billion rials in government aid for establishing more greenhouse townships.
The government, he said, has allocated 1,200 billion rials for expansion of greenhouse industry by employing modern techniques and organizing educational and training programs. Some 18 provinces attended the festival, which is aimed at encouraging competitiveness among domestic producers and also with their foreign rivals.

NEW DELHI, India, Oct. 6--The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has underlined the need for implementing the 2,600-km Iran, Pakistan, India gas pipeline project by putting into effect the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) among the three countries.
In a statement, a copy of which was received by IRNA on Wednesday, ASSOCHAM President Mahendra K. Sanghi said that the pipeline will be highly feasible after the conclusion of the IGA which should determine the regulatory, fiscal and operating regime for at least 50 years.
According to ASSOCHAM chief, all the three countries--Iran Pakistan and India--will be beneficiaries of the proposed pipeline as it will help match supply with demand for natural gas in Pakistan and India and expand Iran's foreign exchange reserves.
Sanghi said that the sources of funding for the proposed four-billion-dollar gas pipeline project should be worked out under the IGA itself such that each country's equity debt ratio is base on the ratio of 20 percent to 80 percent.
Elaborating on the financing aspects of the project, Sanghi said that the government of Iran can arrange for a loan of US $530 million from domestic as well as international financial institutions to support the extension of the pipeline to Pakistan.
The ASSOCHAM chief further said that the IGA should work out clear-cut guidelines under which the financing arrangements are divided under different heading such as technical, insurance, modeling and syndication expertise.
To ensure that the proposed project materializes, it will be a judicious move if the revival talk for the project is again initiated from the Indian government's side particularly at a time when Iran is quite enthusiastic and willing to negotiate and share the security risks with parties involved in this project, Sanghi pointed out.
He argued that at a time when economics and commerce drive the countries' cross-border political and geographical concerns, the apprehensions regarding security attached to the mega project involving three countries should not be clouded by over-suspicion to the extent that its feasibility is questioned at every narrow step.
According to Sanghi, the industry estimates that the feasibility study on the viability of the Iran, Pakistan and India gas pipeline is expected to be completed this month and world-standard financial institutions would thereafter be eying to finance the 2600-km-long mega pipeline project.

TEHRAN, Oct. 6--Head of the Privatization Organization Abdollah Pouri-Hosseini has said that the funds gained from ceding shares of state-owned companies to the private sector, through his organization, since March were not meant for repaying state debts since there is no law to this effect.
In an interview with Fars news agency on Wednesday, Pouri-Hosseini said the responsibility for repaying state dues lies with the Management and Planning Organization. "The best that the Privatization Organization can do is to cooperate with the MPO by facilitating the transfer of funds," he stressed.
Pouri-Hosseini, however, did not rule out the possibility of the organization undertaking this task.
Turning to the transfer of 'preferential' shares, the official noted the organization is, by law, bound to transfer a portion of state shares as 'preferential' shares.
"The body is allowed to grant up to 4,000,000 rials in the form of preferential shares on each transfer," he said, adding up to 15 percent of total transferable shares are also to be ceded to workers as preferential shares.
Pouri-Hosseini confirmed his organization's full support for share transfers under the said conditions.
Statistics reveal no share under this category have been transferred since March.
Experts and officials agree that to compensate for the losses incurred on the economy due to widespread mismanagement, continued economic sanctions and eight years of war, the government should hand over much of its business to the private sector.
They further say the government should do more to ensure equal distribution of wealth by offering more shares through the stock exchange.

Improving the resistance of buildings to natural disasters such as quakes and floods calls for making use of durable construction materials.

TEHRAN, Oct. 6--The need to renovate old and dilapidated residential structures, particularly in urban areas, will cause a sharp rise in Iran's cement consumption in the next five years with domestic use expected to reach 58 million tons per annum.
Expressing this view, Housing and Urban Development Minister Ali Abdolalizadeh, added improving the resistance of buildings to natural disasters such as quakes and floods calls for making use of durable construction materials, most importantly quality cement.
"To ensure this, all cement factories will be obliged to observe a set of standards." The minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a specialized workshop on cement production and consumption.
He said the average durability of buildings in Iran was a maximum of 42 years 'but we hope to improve that figure to over 50 years'.
"Most advanced countries have managed to raise the durability of buildings to 100 years."
Minister of Industries and Mines Es'haq Jahangiri announced a few months ago that Iran's cement production could reach 60 million tons by 2009.
Iran produces some 33 million tons of cement annually.
A cement factory in the southern Fars province with an expected annual output capacity of one million tons is set to become operational by March.
In addition, 27 cement factories are currently under construction in various parts of the country which once operational will increase Iran's cement production and export.