MASHHAD, Khorasan Razavi, Nov. 11--Secretary of the State Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei said Thursday the country needs to overhaul the national economic infrastructure to help boost exports.
Speaking at a meeting of exporters and officials in this northeastern province, he said the direction and framework of the national economy has been enshrined in Vision 2025.
“Primary steps to on boost economic infrastructure were taken during the post-war Reconstruction Era (tenure of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani). The second phase of reinforcing economic foundations came when President Mohammad Khatami took office (in 1997),“ he said, IRNA reported.
Pointing to the importance of long-term plans for developing states, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards said Iran has put together a legal and document in its Vision 2025 based on expert studies.
“Islamic Iran worked for more than eight years on economic infrastructure which formed the basis for the Vision. We have been successful in charting out our macro policies and will reorganize the administrative and management systems by the end of this year,“ he said.
Rezaei added that reforming the economic, administrative and management systems in line with major long-term policies stipulated in the Vision 2025 demands a strong national will and determination.
He called for efficient privatization and downsizing supporting investors and exporters to achieve decent levels of growth and national development.
“Our security will be ensured if we increase exports and develop trade with neighboring and regional countries.“

TEHRAN, Nov. 11--A senior economic expert said here on Saturday that the bank management networks are the main obstacles on the road to privatizing the country’s banking system.
Bijan Bidabad, an instructor at the Central Bank of Iran’s Monetary and Banking Research Center, told Mehr that despite the high significance of the leader’s recent privatization directive, efforts to implement the new privatization policies are not seen to be equally significant.
The expert also expressed regret that state and quasi-state networks, which have found their way into the country’s bureaucratic systems, do not allow the implementation of the privatization policies.
“As per the (latest) reading of Article 44 of the Constitution (which allows large-scale privatizations) banks have to be privatized in order to enhance the efficiency of the economic system,“ he said, adding that some banks, including Bank Melli and Bank Sepah, have not been privatized as they handle salary payment to 1.5 million employees.
“These banks handle a great deal of money and have been designated for privatization, whereas no practical step has so far been taken in this direction,“ he said.
Bidabad said the bank management networks are unwilling to cede their posts to private sector managers, stressing that the bank privatization objectives are unlikely to materialize under the circumstances.

MASHHAD, Khorasan Razavi, Nov. 11--A senior parliamentarian said here on Saturday that investors are the cornerstone of the national economy, adding that the negative outlook about investors has to be rectified.
According to ISNA, Mohammad Shahi-Arablou, who heads the Majlis Economic Commission, further said at a ceremony to commemorate Export Week and award the province’s exemplary exporters that investors have to be protected, if the country wants to do something for the six million underprivileged and the four million unemployed.
The lawmaker pointed out that the manufacturing sector is driven forward by capital and capital is generated by investors.
“Instead of talking so much about employment and exports, we should protect the investors and give them (and their activities) high priority,“ he said, adding that some economic experts favor state-run economy, which means that economic analysis-related affairs should also be delegated to the private sector.
The MP also said that the workers’ community should rely on its expertise and not the Labor Law, stressing that the law needs to be amended in cooperation with private sector representatives.
Shahi-Arablou said the commission is seeking to cut bank rates down to nine percent and, at the same time, address the problems facing the banking system.
Last week, the parliamentarian said that the government should try to boost economic security in order to encourage private sector investments in various economic sectors.

Under an agreement, three European saffron producers undertook to challenge Iranian saffron.

TEHRAN, Nov. 11--Italy, Spain and Greece signed an agreement in the Italian island of Sardinia last week to restrict the market for Iranian saffron in Europe, ISNA reported.
Under the agreement, the three European saffron producers undertook to challenge Iranian saffron which has been the biggest rival of their products in view of its high quality and low price, it said, adding that European trio are exploring avenues to undermine the firm status of the Persian delicacy in the European Union.
The signatories are also seeking to employ new methods of marketing to resist other Iranian commodities.
The area under saffron cultivation at 35 hectares in Sardinia whose produce is of the best quality and the most expensive in Europe with each gram trading at five euros in the markets. It is even offered at 8-14 euros in chain stores.
Some 275 hectares are under saffron cultivation in Spain, the report noted, adding that Spanish saffron is trading at 1.5 euro per gram in Europe.
Annually 4,500 hectares are brought under saffron cultivation in Greece which produces the least expensive European saffron, selling at 80 cents at the markets and this figure sometimes reaches 3-4 euros.
It quoted DPA as reporting that the famous cooks of the said three countries meet in Italy at weekends and offer their saffron-flavored local cuisines to the public in a festival known as the Saffron Festival as part of effort to publicize European saffron and restrict the consumption of the Iranian rival.
This is while Jose Antonio Fernandez, a saffron expert said earlier at the Second International Saffron Symposium in the holy city of Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi that the weak presence of Iran and other saffron producers in global market led to unfair practices which have had a direct impact on saffron markets in Italy, Spain, Greece and Iran.

TEHRAN, Nov. 11--More than 50 percent of the country’s industries are located in Tehran, said a senior parliamentarian here on Saturday, adding that the proposed rescinding of the law prohibiting the establishment of industrial units within a 120-kilometer radius of the capital would further increase this figure.
Seyyed Hossein Hashemi, who heads the Majlis Industries and Mines Commission, told ISNA that decentralization-related proposals would not be helpful as it would be too costly and time-consuming for Tehran-based managers to travel to provincial areas on a regular basis.
“The main decisions are being made in Tehran, which requires the managers to attend meetings such as those held at the Ministry of Industries and Mines,“ he said, adding that if some managers fail to attend key meetings, works would not move forward.
The MP was referring to the government’s plans to relocate Tehran bureaus of state-run companies to cities, where the companies are actually operating.
“Studies suggest that the commercial system of every (major) company has to be based in Tehran, because other provinces do not have access to e-commerce systems. On top of that, it would not be possible to easily move these offices to other provinces,“ he said.
On the controversial joint venture with Renault for the production of L90 budget cars in Iran, the MP said if the car does not hit the market by late November, the Majlis will take necessary action.

TEHRAN, Nov. 11--Iran-US commercial transactions declined by four percent to reach $186.6 million in January-September 2006 against the figure for the same period last year, Fars quoted the US Statistics Office as reporting on Friday.
The report put the value of the US exports to Iran at $66.4 million in the first three quarters of the year, adding that the US imported $120.2 million worth of goods from Iran in the same period.
This is while the figures were respectively reported at $68.9 million and $124.4 million in January-September 2005, it noted, adding the Iran-US trade balance was $53.8 million in favor of Iran in the same period.

BUSHEHR, Nov. 11--Iran’s top environmentalist said here on Saturday that Department of the Environment (DoE) and the Oil Ministry are cooperating to locate a proper venue for constructing the giant ’North Pars’ hydrocarbon project in this gas-rich Persian Gulf province.
According to ILNA, Fatemeh Vaez-Javadi, who is also a vice-president, further noted that Bushehr development and employment projects should be implemented in accordance with environmental standards, stressing that the Ninth Government is seeking to resolve the people’s problems, alleviate poverty and improve the job market.
She further said that several meetings have been held so far on locating a proper venue for constructing petrochemical refineries and other oil and gas facilities in the North Pars project, which will follow the multi-phased pattern for developing South Pars, which is said to be the world’s largest offshore gas field.
The official further noted that the province has great potentials for constructing industrial townships, adding that the place and type of industries have to be studied.
“Bushehr province has outstanding natural attractions for tourists,“ she said, adding that the DoE is seriously following up efforts to use tourist attractions in protected areas to develop the local tourism industry.