KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug. 29--Iran is working on a set of localized indicators in its effort to get a realistic picture of corruption in the country, besides legislating new laws to complement the existing ones to combat the crime.
Head of Iran’s General Inspection Organization Mohammad Niazi said the indicators that they proposed would incorporate economic transaction and activity information particularly in government contracts, as well as in the stock market.
“Our main concern is the lack of information that had permitted the abuse of information in economic activities,“ he said in an interview with Bernama and RTM on the sidelines of the First OIC Anti-Corruption and Enhancing Integrity Forum here Tuesday.
Although he appreciated the contributions by international non-governmental organizations like Transparency International (TI) for coming up with corruption indices in countries around the world, he said the need was pressing for a more concrete and objective criteria of assessment.
He said free movement of economic transaction information was a significant element that had to be taken into account but was not emphasized in the TI’s indices.
On Iran’s legislative efforts to fight corruption, Niazi said two laws were currently being debated in the parliament which, once passed, would allow the government to have all economic information of private-run enterprise and to empower its judiciary to declare the names of those who are corrupt or involved in corruption.
At present, he said the Stock Market Act was enforced with the aim of curbing those with information of companies’ future economic activities from making them public in a way to implicate the stock market.
The General Inspection Organization is the main anti-corruption authority in Iranian legal structure, which works under the judiciary wing as an independent body responsible for monitoring the conduct of public bodies and ensuring observance of the laws.
When presenting a paper on ’Combating Corruption and Enhancing Integrity: Iran’s Experience’ at the forum earlier, Niazi said the
organization would continue to employ information technology and cyber space facilities to maximize anti-corruption activities.
“The organization is now able to benefit from highly valued assistance and participation of our ordinary citizens as more than 20,000 reports had been received last year,“ he added.

Construction industry has experienced 50-100 percent price hikes during past six months.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--The unprecedented rise in prices of construction materials which has hit the industry in the past six months has worsened housing market recession.
Abolfazl Ebrahim-Kia, a member of board of directors of the Mass Constructors Center, told ILNA on Tuesday that the construction industry has experienced 50-100 percent price hikes in the period.
“The price hikes have been unprecedented in recent years given the recession that has hit the market,“ he said, adding that housing prices and rents have gone up accordingly.
He expressed doubt over the possibility of housing prices coming back to previous levels, stressing, however, that prices could decline slightly.
“Given the housing market developments of the past 20 years, the market’s prospect does not seem to be bright,“ he said, adding that many developers have halted construction projects due to ever-increasing housing prices.
Ebrahim-Kia said house loans could have an impact on prices only when they accounted for half the price of a real estate.
He said the people would welcome the construction of new townships after they are equipped with modern transportation systems, including metro.
“This will reduce pressures on the larger cities,“ he said.
As mass constructors complain about high prices of construction materials, the government and the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI) press for an improvement in the quality of materials.
It was announced last month that compulsory quality standards will apply to 800 items of construction materials by September, marking a major step forward in efforts to reinforce constructions in the quake-prone Iran.
In April, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the country can easily supply the required construction materials, and the people and officials must join hands to reinforce vulnerable buildings.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--The government is seeking to invest some $1.5-billion in the controversial project to build 1,000 kilometers of a high-speed Maglev (magnetic levitation train) line to serve as an ultra-modern transportation mode between Tehran and the holy city of Mashhad, the Persian daily Ayandeh-No reported here on Tuesday.
The decision comes at a time when the total budget for State Transportation Infrastructures Development Company is $260 million in the year to March 2007, the report said, adding that expert estimates suggest that the project would cost more than $15 billion.
With a speed of 450 km/h, Maglev train uses the world’s most advanced rail transportation technologies, it said, adding, however, that the train has been tested in certain countries, including China, Japan, Germany and the US, given its super-expensive technology.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that the government will finance the giant project from Foreign Exchange Reserves Account.
“Once 50 percent of the required fund is provided by the private sector, the project will receive the promised financial support,“ he added.
Hossein Tehrani, deputy head of the company’s railroad, airport and port development affairs, announced that Mellat Bank Investment Company and a German firm are to invest in the giant project, adding that the BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) project demands the participation of a partner from an advanced country as well as private sector investments to the tune of 50 percent of the required funds.
While the lack of funds has nipped the proposed Tehran-Mashhad High Speed Rail (HSR) project in the bud, talks of a Maglev project, which will be far more costly, have raised eyebrows among transportation experts.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--Health Minister Kamran Baqeri Lankarani said Monday evening that Iran is now among the exporters of medicine due to the high quality of its pharmaceutical products.
Speaking in a televised program on the occasion of ’Government Week’ observed annually from August 24-30, the minister said most of the medicines produced in the country were of a high standard and comparable with foreign brands.
Lankarani said that medicines were exported to a large number of Central Asian states as well as neighboring countries.
According to IRNA, he added that various stages of production of the domestic made pharmaceuticals were strictly controlled by Health Ministry experts.

Iran is planning to provide each family with a share of state companies' stakes as part of a groundbreaking project called Justice Shares.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--Iran’s stock market chief said that the new capital market team has performed satisfactorily despite falling indices, stressing that ’favorable steps’ have been taken since he took office earlier this year.
According to ISNA, Ali Salehabadi, who heads the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) and the Bourse Organization, told reporters that the organization managed to implement the Stock Market Law after 40 years and created a working environment in which decisions can be made ’very freely’.
“I have a very good feeling,“ he said when asked how he felt about his performance as the stock market chief. “We have moved forward favorably compared to the past (performance of the previous managers).“
Responding to objections by reporters against the stock market managers’ refusal to give interviews, the official said there is no restriction on interviewing the managers.
“But we are planning to inform the public of the organization’s decisions via the (organization’s) spokesperson as per the law,“ he said.
He said the organization is trying to make the capital market ever more transparent by establishing over-the-counter (OTC) markets as of 2007.
Earlier this month, Salehabadi played down concerns by World Bank (WB) representatives over the government’s plans for attracting 20 million shareholders to the country’s capital market, stressing that Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) has very ’bright prospects’.
The TSE chief said in a meeting with visiting WB envoys that some 80 percent of shares of state companies will be offered to the public as per recent directive by the leader of the Islamic Revolution to give privatization drive a new lease on life.
He said in response to the WB officials’ concerns about a possible rise in the volume of transactions once the privatization scheme is implemented, he said that Iran has purchased sophisticated systems which have the capacity to tackle the situation.
Iran is planning to provide each family with a share of state companies’ stakes as part of a groundbreaking project called Justice Shares.
Several major state companies are ready to offer shares on the stock market as part of the project following the leader’s announcement of the latest reading of Article 44 of the Constitution, which allows large-scale privatizations.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--The Private Fixed Phone Operator Syndicate chief said here on Tuesday that lack of coordination between Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), provincial telecoms organizations and State Radio Frequency Regulations Organization is to blame for the challenges facing fixed phone operators.
Mohammad Khajouei told ILNA that the operators are not facing financial problems, stressing, however, that judicial restrictions on private sector involvement in the fixed phone domain remain as the main predicament.
“We have finalized foreign investment agreements but cannot launch the projects due to legal problems relating to frequencies,“ he said, adding that relevant rules and regulation have to be drawn up so that huge private investments are not at risk.
“Lack of cooperation from the country’s telecoms system is another obstacle,“ he said, adding that foreign investors must wait for a frequency-related permission for four months, which is unhelpful. State and private sectors have been tasked under the Fourth Five-Year Plan (2005-2010) to provide 18.5 million fixed phone lines.
Khajouei said earlier this year that Iran can turn into the regional telecommunications hub given its strategic geopolitical location, stressing that the priority has to be given to developing infrastructures rather than increasing the number of fixed and mobile phone lines.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Monday afternoon that the national oil industry must be the top in the region thanks to its specialized, faithful and innovative workforce.
According to Fars, the chief executive, who was speaking during a ceremony to appreciate those involved in the successful extinction of a huge fire that had engulfed Kangan 23 oil well in southern Iran last month following a landslide, further said that Iran’s oil industry is the symbol of science, arts, bravery and self-sacrifice and that the industry provides a strong backing for the Islamic Revolution and the country.
“The oil industry and its personnel are like medals of honor as they have not let challenges affect the industry,“ he said. “When they (oil industry people) can do great things with the least facilities, they will be able to achieve remarkable successes,“ he added.
Ahmadinejad said that foreign companies had demanded a huge amount for extinguishing the Kangan fire, whereas domestic specialists managed to do this with minimum facilities.
He said the administration will try its best to provide oil industry specialists with the required resources and facilities, calling for self-sufficiency in manufacturing oil industry equipment.
He said the recent achievement by the country’s scientists regarding equal exploitation of oil from joint fields as ’sweet news’ for the whole nation.

If domestically-made goods are to be exported, production costs will come down and this will eventually reduce prices at home.

TEHRAN, Aug. 29--Promoting exports is high on the Ninth Government’s priority list, said Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davood Danesh-Jafari here on Tuesday.
According to ISNA, the minister said at the First Nationwide Seminar on ’Young Advisors to the Ninth Government’ that exports could be disrupted in the absence of a transparent framework for developing the country’s international trade, stressing that many manufacturing units are currently operating at below their production capacity because they have focused heavily on domestic markets.
“Now if domestically-made goods are to be exported, production costs will come down and this will eventually reduce prices at home,“ he said, adding that such goods need to be competitive in terms of quality and price should they find a foothold in the international markets.
“We must increase our production capacity,“ he said, adding that export promotion policies need to be reformed.
“For instance, the Persian Gulf littoral states import fresh fruit and vegetables from Chile, whereas our exporters face numerous problems (when trying to export the same goods to these countries),“ he said, adding that free zones could also be made optimum use of in this respect.
He said the country exported a total of $60 billion worth of goods in the year to March 2006 of which oil exports accounted for $48 billion.
“Our exports stood at $40.9 billion in the period,“ he said, adding that the country needs to boost non-oil exports remarkably.
Danesh-Jafari’s remarks come amid growing concerns about the prospect of the manufacturing sector plunging into a fresh crisis with many private sector factories already closed down.
The minister said earlier that the recent wave of closures of manufacturing units is due to excessive import of inexpensive goods and not the inflation rate.
He said many producers have lost domestic markets to imports.