Iran currently ranks first in saffron production with the largest area under cultivation.

MASHHAD, Khorasan Razavi, Oct. 29--The Second International Saffron Symposium attended by 112 Iranian and foreign experts began here on Saturday.
According to IRNA, the first symposium was held in Spain three years ago.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, secretary of the event, Alireza Koucheki declared that more than 80 percent of the world saffron is produced in Iran. He pointed out that the growers collectively gather and pack the product making the harvest season a cultural event. This, he noted, brings about cordial relations among the people.
Iran currently ranks first in saffron production with the largest area under cultivation, he said noting that the figure has doubled in the past ten years while the output fluctuates between 112 to 230 tons annually.
Export, he said, stands at 200 tons per annum which can meet the global demand for the product.
Koucheki said that the top priority does not lie in production but in quality control, diversifying its use, harvesting, packing and identifying pharmaceutical usage through research.
He hoped that the country would become the main center for research by saffron experts and scientists.
The symposium mainly focuses on saffron production, technology, biology and bio-technology, its pharmaceutical aspects, marketing and innovative uses.
The Spanish secretary of the first saffron symposium, which was held in Spain last year, said that Iranian saffron has high quality but faces several difficulties in sales.
Jose Antonio Fernandez, who is also a saffron expert, listed the shortcomings in exports as dispensing bulk quantities as well as inadequate packaging and marketing.
Iran exports most of its saffron in bulk, so other countries pack them in commercial packages and re-export it under their own brand names.
Referring to Iran’s 90 percent share in world saffron production, the expert noted that weak presence of Iran and other saffron producers in global market led to unfair practices which have direct impact on saffron markets in Italy, Spain, Greece and Iran.

Domestic companies face certain problems when trying to sign a contract and many of them are forced into partnership with foreign firms as junior companies.

TEHRAN, Oct. 29--Iran has turned into the paradise for international construction firms, said the head of Association of Construction Companies here on Sunday.
Bahaeddin Adab told Moj news agency that the government’s inattention to the potentials of domestic contracting companies has given way to a more colorful presence of foreign constructors in projects.
“Domestic contractors face with two major challenges. First, the priority is given to the participation of foreign companies, particularly Korean firms, in the Iranian construction projects. Second, the government is willing to sign such contracts with military and law enforcement forces,“ he said.
Adab criticized the government for not paying due attention to the private sector.
He said that despite all this, domestic constructors control much of the industry. “But domestic companies face certain problems when trying to sign a contract and many of them are forced into partnership with foreign firms as junior companies,“ he said, pointing out that the country’s economic development is contingent upon private sector development.
He said the Management and Planning Organization (MPO) and the Central Bank of Iran must work to break the existing resistance to the greater share of private sector in the national economy.
The government announced in early October that it is planning to extend financial facilities of 30 trillion rials to mass constructors as part of efforts to improve the construction industry and create jobs.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mohammad Jahromi told the Persian daily Kayhan earlier that the move is expected to give the construction sector a new lease on life, stressing that an improvement in the construction industry will help develop 300 other industries.
The minister further said that the government has adopted certain measures to end the recession plaguing the construction sector for several years.
“Materialization of the target to create one million jobs would require a boost in the construction industry,“ he said, adding that 200,000 housing units will be constructed in rural areas.

TEHRAN, Oct. 29--A senior lawmaker said here on Saturday that since the government seems to be planning a change in the cabinet lineup, the parliamentarians should not try to surpass it.
“The Parliament should first of all see whether the government is serious about changing the cabinet, or not,“ Mohammad Khoshchehreh said, adding that if the otherwise is proved, the lawmakers will then have to take the required measures to change the ministers whose performance is closely linked to the people’s livelihood and social and economic conditions of the country.
The MP, who heads the Economic Committee of the Majlis Fundamentalists Faction, said the government must try to boost its efficiency.
However, some people ’believe that poverty will be overcome by changing the minister of welfare and social security or the high inflation rate and prices will be controlled solely through the Commerce Ministry’, he said. “What really needs to undergo amendments is the ruling policymaking structure.“
The outspoken lawmaker said personal preferences should not be let into strategic policies, stressing that changes in the cabinet is inevitable. “Some of the promises have not been delivered,“ he said.

TEHRAN, Oct. 29--An official said on Saturday some 200,000 laborers in 500 crisis-stricken industrial units have not received their arrears from 3 to 50 months.
According to Fars, Secretary-General of Labor House Alireza Mahjoub added, “Unfortunately the national economy has been experiencing recession since 1995. This situation has also affected the textile industry, which threatens 900,000 direct and 300,000 indirect employees since 1999 É The crisis is widening by the day.“
He noted that the home appliance industry gradually encountered a similar situation and other industries, which have a low security margin are also grappling with this dilemma.
“Some 500 industrial units are in a critical situation and cannot pay their staffers’ salaries on time. Some of these units face a crisis regarding payment of salaries for over 50 months,“ he said.
Mahjoub underlined that the labor community cannot tolerate the present difficult conditions.
“A few months ago, the Labor Ministry brought up the issue of amending labor Laws. We believe that this amendment only ruins the job security of employees and the labor force will have no job security whatsoever under the new labor regulations,“ he said.
He noted that according to the statistics compiled by the Social Security Organization of Iran, there are over seven million laborers in the country.
“But if we consider the number of laborers that have insurance coverage, the total number of laborers will exceed nine million people,“ he said.

TEHRAN, Oct. 29--Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor Saeid Mortazavi on Sunday revealed a major corruption case in the capital.
He said the Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs has reclaimed 14 million square meters of state property occupied by a number of frauds who had managed to counterfeit land documents.
According to ISNA, the prosecutor said the lands are worth 6.4 trillion rials ($700 million).
Mortazavi further said that the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office is in charge of investigating alleged offenses committed by governors, governor generals, members of the Guardians Council and the State Expediency Council, ministers, deputy ministers and top military officials as well as provincial intelligence personnel and judges.
He said the Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs is also competent to investigate charges brought up against state officials.
The official said, however, that financial offenses should not be mistaken for economic corruption. “Those involved in financial wrongdoings are mostly from lower class social strata, whereas in combating economic corruption, the systems (employed by the corrupt officials) are targeted,“ he said.
In another major revelation, the government said earlier that a private bank, which later appeared to be Bank Parsian, was involved in a giant corruption case in which an individual had managed to receive a huge loan.
However, it was announced last week that the Administrative Court has revoked the order dismissing Bank Parsian’s managing director, who was accused of authorizing the ’unnamed’ individual for loan from the bank.

TEHRAN, Oct. 29--Judiciary chief here Sunday described statistics as one of the main pillars and principles of development which could play a crucial role in upgrading the economic, political, cultural and social status of the country and drawing up plans to serve the people, ISNA reported.
Hashemi Shahroudi, who was addressing a gathering of Census Headquarters employees, termed census-taking as a valuable means of ensuring development, prosperity and administration of justice in Iran, adding that recording all developments in different fields is the prerequisite for systematic and accurate planning and thus better administration of the country’s affairs.
“If all the issues which are of fundamental importance to the development of the country are fully and meticulously addressed in the (ongoing) census and the public also cooperate with the census-takers, the outcome would remove all challenges and problems facing the officialdom,“ he noted.
Noting that inaccurate census spoils the government’s effort to build a prosperous country and hinders the implementation of the plans and policies, he urged the people to fully cooperate with census takers and provide them with accurate information on the one hand and the census-takers to pay undivided attention and patience to the heavy responsibility on the other hand.

TEHRAN, Oct. 29--Rate of investment in the agriculture sector is expected to grow by three percent in the year to March 2007 to reach 13 percent against the figure for the corresponding period last year, announced a senior Agriculture Jihad Ministry official here Sunday.
Sadeq Khalilian, deputy agriculture minister for economic affairs and planning told the Persian daily Iran that the figure stood at 10 percent last year, adding that that it is expected to increase to 13 percent given the state support.
“In the year to March 2006, the rate of facilities allocated for the (development) of the agriculture sector was reported at 5.11 percent,“ he recalled, adding that the government’s decision was followed by the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad cutting the lending rate of investment facilities by an average of seven percent.
“Undoubtedly, the said move would contribute to the realization of the (projected) three-percent investment growth target in the sector,“ he argued, noting that the investment rate is highly influenced by the amount of facilities.
He announced that the ministry has increased insurance for agricultural products by 100 percent as part of efforts to lower the investment risks and ensure investment security. The government, he added, has allocated one trillion rials for the expansion of agriculture insurances.
The sector will also be financed by some $500 million worth of funds from the Foreign Exchange Reserves Account, he said, noting that the sector has managed to obtain 10 percent of the funds allocated for private enterprise from the account.

Annual date production stands at some 0.8-1 million tons of which more than 100,000 tons were shipped abroad each year in the past five decades.

AHVAZ, Khuzestan, Oct. 29--In the past 50 years, Iran’s date export has never exceeded the regular 10 percent of the total output due to the ignorance of policy-makers about the qualities and advantages of this nutritious fruit, a senior agriculture official said here Saturday.
Speaking to Mehr, deputy head of the Iran’s Date Association Mohammad Hashempour, disclosed that according to a report by the Agriculture Jihad Ministry, annual date production stands at some 0.8-1 million tons of which more than 100,000 tons were shipped abroad each year in the past five decades.
He regretted that Iranian exporters missed the opportunity to export the commodity to war-stricken Iraq where it could have found an instant market, arguing that the Iraqi market could also have served as a link between Iranian and other overseas markets.
“Date export is similar to oil export,“ he observed, noting that the sector would bring in more benefits if the derivatives of dates are exported in addition to the fruit itself.
The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan and some European countries, particularly France are the main rivals of Iran in the date industry, he pointed out, adding that European states have managed to gain a foothold in the industry by offering the dates they had earlier bought at low prices in modern packaging at exorbitant prices.
He cited Saudi Arabia as a good example where great significance was attached to the key sector and appropriate credits were allocated for the development of date processing and packaging sectors.
He further criticized the Iranian embassies for their passive role in international market for the strategic commodity, adding that the diplomatic missions of date producing countries laid the foundations for their international date markets.
Hashempour proposed the establishment of date headquarters in Tehran and date-rich provinces to remove the impediments to the sector’s development.