In addition to domestic economic progress the railroads can generate hard currency through international transit.

TEHRAN, Feb. 14--Minister of Roads and Transportation Mohammad Rahmati said on Monday that Bafq-Mashhad railway will most likely become operational by June, stressing that the committee in charge of organizing the inauguration ceremony has already been set up.
The railway would link the northeastern city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi province to the central city of Bafq, in the parched province of Yazd.
The new railway line will reduce the distance between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf by 1,000 kilometers.
ÒIn addition to domestic economic gains, the railway could bring in huge hard currency earnings from international transit,Ó he said, adding that more than five trillion rials have so far been spent on the project.
In a related news, Seyyed Alireza Nabavi-Zadeh, deputy Yazd governor general for development affairs, said the groundbreaking project could come on stream even earlier in April, adding that the inauguration ceremony will be held in the holy city of Mashhad.
The 805-km railroad will cross Yazd, Kerman and Khorasan provinces at a maximum speed of 160 kilometers for passenger trains and 120 kilometers for cargo trains.
The Bafq-Mashhad railroad will also facilitate container shipments between Iran and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

TEHRAN, Feb. 14--Seafood exports will exceed $80 million during March 2004-2005, showing a 10-percent increase against the figure for the previous year, said the managing director of Iran Fisheries Company here on Monday.
Lotfollah Saidi told ISNA that some $25 million worth of caviar as well as $30 million of shrimps were exported during the period, adding that the remaining $25 million was earned from fish exports.
The official further said that the per capita seafood consumption reached 6.2 kilograms by March 2004, stressing that seafood consumption has grown by 13-fold since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
He said the per capita seafood consumption would hit a record 10 kilograms by the closing year of the fourth five-year plan (2005-2010).
Saidi said 440,000 tons of fishes were produced in 2003, adding that the figure will reach 764,000 tons by 2010.
He said trout production has increased by 30 percent to reach 60,000 tons.
The official said Iran will export 58,000 tons of sturgeon in 2005.
Agriculture Biotechnology Research Institute is planning to produce genetically modified (GM) fishes.
The project is in its initial stages. It would take Iran a few years to be able to produce GM fishes.
The institute would seek cooperation from Cuba, which is one of the worldÕs leading countries in terms of biotechnology, in its efforts to produce GM fishes.
Environmental activists are against production of GM food in the country.

Producers in the petroleum sector, oil derivatives manufacturers in particular, have repeatedly stressed the need for urgent state support to help improve the quality of their products and boost productivity.
Experts contend that low quality of products have caused a rise in domestic consumption of oil derivatives, thus limiting the chances for export.
Iran is considered one of the worldÕs major producers and, interestingly, consumers of oil by-products.
According to Secretary of the Union of Oil By-Products Producers and Exporters Pedram Soltani, Iranian oil companies have a meager share and an almost unfelt presence in global markets compared to their regional and international counterparts.
In a recent interview with Iran Daily, Soltani said although a number of leading international firms are engaged in major upstream industrial projects, however, efforts to encourage them to take up a same role in downstream projects have so far failed.
He said companies mainly suffer from inadequate state funding and thus unable to gain access to modern technologies and equipment.
Soltani called for establishment of an oil by-products exports development fund to give the producers incentives such as tax exemptions and covering up to 50 percent of marketing and advertisement costs.
Ahmad Bousairi, manager of an engine oil manufacturing company said a new generation of engine oil has recently hit the market maintains optimum performance at 180,000 km which is equal to a carÕs durability.
ÒIf IranÕs engine oil industry does not improve in terms of quality and quantity within five years, domestic companies would definitely go bankrupt and more than 20,000 workers would become jobless because exports will come to a halt.Ó
Bousairi echoed repeated complains by his colleagues that insufficient state funding has left producers unable to import new technology and machinery.
The bitumen and asphalt producing sectors are currently facing a major crisis, caused by low quality, poor competitiveness and high domestic consumption. Domestic consumption constitutes two-thirds of total production.
Urban development officials say 80,000 km of city roads are asphalted and more than 120,000 rural roads also needs to be repaired.
According to official reports, there are more than 150 producer and exporter units involved in the downstream oil industry but only 80 of them are members of the union and slightly higher number of units has work permits.
A large number of downstream industrial units have been privatized. The government only owns petrochemical companies. The private sector produces paraffin-related materials, lubricants, brimstone, bitumen, solvents, ..etc.

TEHRAN, Feb. 14--Total volume of exports from Iran is expected to increase by 15 percent in the next Iranian year (starting March 20) following a rise in foreign and domestic investments in certain sectors such as the petrochemical industry.
Announcing this, Director General of IranÕs Customs Administration for export affairs Nasser Ebrahimi however told ILNA on Monday that the country would face a decline in exports in some sectors, particularly Persian carpets.
ÒExcept for petrochemical sector, which will rise by 50 percent, there will be rise in exports, investment and production,Ó Ebrahimi noted.
He stated that domestic industries and exports should develop a market strategy to capitalize on the potentials of the Central Asian and African markets.
The official added that exports to regional markets are experiencing a boom. Figures indicate that the country exported some $6 billion worth of goods in the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2004) against $4 billion for the previous year.

TEHRAN, Feb. 14--Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari defended the governmentÕs performance on devising custom duties, saying a declining trend in the rate of tariffs and duties particularly on import of raw materials points to the stateÕs determination to boost domestic productivity and competitiveness.
In an interview with ISNA on Monday, Shariatmadari noted the rates on certain imported commodities will increase as a further support for domestic producers and to enable them to compete with their foreign counterparts in the market.
ÒThe government will continue efforts to lower tariff rates on raw, intermediate and capital goods to reduce the final cost of domestic products and give domestic production a new impetus.Ó
If the import tariffs on certain foreign commodities are raised, it would be for the sake of Iranian manufacturers, he said.
Foreign-made products continue to dominate Iranian markets, leaving literally no room for domestic manufacturers to compete.

TEHRAN, Feb. 14--The 15th Meeting of the Regional Planning Council of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) opened here on Monday.
Secretary general of ECO and top economic officials from 10 member countries attended the meeting.
According to Iran Daily correspondent, the four-day meeting will mainly deal with ECO plans to improve trade, investment, transportation, energy, mines, environment, agriculture, industries, health and economic statistics and research cooperation in the region.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Hamid Reza Baradaran-Shoraka, vice-president and head of Management and Planning Organization (MPO), said the globalization and the regionalization trends are going in the same direction.
The official further noted that the global developments such as the expansion of non-governmental organizations, promotion of common human values, information technology, communications, exchange of information between nations and governments and the alternation of such traditional concepts as geography, homeland, security, power, governance and national security have come in the wake of the world moving towards globalization.
Referring to challenges the developing countries might face in the process of globalization, the official said independent policymaking would be called into question and developing countries would become more vulnerable to international developments while the possibility of a widespread global economic crisis would rise considerably.
He said the ECO plays a meager role in international trade, saying the group has to remove commercial obstacles and facilitate trade with the world.
Baradaran-Shoraka said the total value of trade between the ECO member-states grew by 53 percent to reach $166.7 billion in 2001 from $108.7 billion in 1990.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 14--Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Baqeri said here Sunday that Syria provides a conducive atmosphere for commercial activities by private Iranian companies, IRNA said.
Speaking on the threshold of Iran-Syria Economic Cooperation Commission meeting to be held in Tehran, he added, "We do not look to Syrian as a customer for our goods, but as a partner."
The expectations are that economic and trade ties will match the level of political cooperation between Tehran and Damascus, he noted.
High-ranking officials of both nations expect economic exchanges to top $3 billion in the next five years, he added.
The envoy further said that Iranian companies have invested over $60 million in multiple projects in Syria.
Among other projects, he referred to the production line for 'Samand' automobiles as an 'exemplary exports of engineering services projects'.
"The Syrians expects us to import some of our consumer products from that country rather than other more distant markets which entail higher costs," he noted.
Baqeri said the Syrian government has provided good incentives for foreign investments in the country. A $200-million cement factory in the city of Hama, 200 kms north of Damascus is a joint Iran-Syria project.
Syria produces over five million tons of cement annually and imports another two million tons and with the factory in operation the country can add about one million tons of cement to its domestic production and save hard currency. Other Iranian investors are implementing various projects valued at close to $500 million including building of grain silos and renovating power plant in the port city of Banyas.