A record 11.6 million tons of goods were transited in the country in the year to March 2007.

The Second Iran Transit Forum: Opportunities and Challenges opened in Tehran on Sunday.
Transportation ministers from five countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan as well as representatives from 30 states and international organizations are participating in the two-day gathering.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Roads and Transportation Minister Mohammad Rahmati said that trade rate between countries has grown in the past two decades thanks to creation of new national and regional markets.
He added that economic development in Asia, Europe and Africa has also played a key role in increasing commercial transactions between East and West, Iran Daily’s Sadeq Dehqan reported.
The minister noted that continuation of economic cooperation, particularly in the transportation sector, needs regional and international collaboration.
Rahmati stressed that transportation industry plays a major role in economic growth and development.
The sector has had an 8.5-percent share in gross domestic product in recent years, the minister stated.
Turing to railway link, he said that Iran is currently connected by rail to Turkey and Central Asia.
Iran has 7,000 kilometers of railway networks linking Persian Gulf in the south to Amirabad Port on the Caspian coast in northern Iran, Rahmati noted.
According to the minister, Sarakhs-Bandar Abbas railway provides Central Asian states an access to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.
Rahmati further said that the country has over 60 highly-equipped airports of which eight are international.
The minister said that a record 11.6 million tons of goods were transited in the country in the year to March 2007, registering a 25-percent growth compared to figures for a year earlier.
Meanwhile, deputy roads and transportation minister and secretary of the gathering, Mohammad Bokharaei said that the conference helps increase national, regional and international coordination to develop transit potentials.
Also, Turkish Transport Minister Ismet Yilmaz said that his country emphasizes on facilitation of international transport by implementing joint railway and road projects.
Resolving problems facing the transportation industry needs cooperation and negotiations among politicians, he stated.
Referring to a project which is underway in Lake Van, Yilmaz said the project, once complete, would help remove obstacles in linking Iran and the Middle East to Europe.
Some five million tons of goods and one million passengers will be transited and transferred per year on the route traversing 37 km, the minister noted.
Uzbekistan’s Transport Minister Roshan Faizullaev noted that his country has joined over 30 international conventions and agreements on transit and transport.
He stressed that development of transport system is a must for Uzbekistan which is a landlocked country.
The minister noted that a new railway 244-km route is under construction to connect Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan Transportation Minister Seyed Mohammad-Ali Javid called for strengthening Tehran-Kabul economic ties.
He stated that bilateral trade currently exceeds $500 million per annum.
The minister hoped that the figure would reach $1,000 million annually with the expansion of both countries’ transport system.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called for fair taxation system to encourage timely payment.
“One of the factors which motivate timely tax payment is levying taxes on a fair basis. Tax payers should be encouraged to contribute to estimating taxes and making payments voluntarily,“ said Ahmadinejad in an address to a group of tax collectors, IRNA reported.
President Ahmadinejad also called on respective officials to build the culture of voluntary tax payment among citizens.
He regretted that there is a popular misconception that oil revenues are infinite and the country’s oil earnings far outweigh national expenditure.
“Everyone should know that oil revenues will come to an end one day and if we spend oil earnings today, they will not be sufficient for paying all our expenses,“ he said.
The president underlined that national resources are assets that should be kept for future generations. “We are not the only ones who have the right to use the resources today; we should use them as we are entitled to and should know that future generations too have the right to benefit from them,“ he said.
Ahmadinejad further said that media play a significant role in preparing the people to pay taxes and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting should include more programs on taxation.
“Value of transactions conducted in the country exceeds 6,000 trillion rials and receiving only five percent of the above figure as taxes will double the government’s tax revenues,“ added the president.
Prior to the speech, the chief executive in a symbolic gesture submitted his tax statement to respective officials.
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Davoud Danesh-Jafari and head of the Taxation Affairs Organization Ali-Akbar Arab-Mazar were present in the ceremony.
The president awarded exemplary officials and experts at the meeting.

The World Bank will cooperate with Iran in establishing a national skills center, head of Technical/Vocational Education Organization announced.
Ali Kordan told IRNA that preliminary studies to set up the center have been conducted.
The official said that the project will be carried out by two foreign contractors from Australia and France. A number of domestic companies which have won tenders will also be involved.
Fund needed for establishing the center is estimated at above $200 million, he said, reiterating that WB would finance the project.
Apart from Tehran province, the official stated, such centers will be launched in 10 other provinces.
Turning to technical/vocational trainings, Kordan said that activities of the organization have doubled during the tenure of the present government.
The official, also deputy minister of labor and social affairs, noted that 120,000 villagers would undergo training in the year to March 2008 under the so-called ’Hejrat Scheme’. This shows a 100-percent growth compared to last year’s figures.
The scheme is aimed at increasing skills at the national level. Some 100 billion rials have been allocated for the plan. Some 1,000 mobile stations are involved in training 16 skills to rural inhabitants.
On establishment of skills training units abroad, the official noted 50 centers have been launched in countries such as Afghanistan, Armenia, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates. Kordan explained that these centers are jointly established by Iran and the host countries to train foreign and Iranian applicants.

Permission has been given to sell the shares of an Iranian bank to International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Announcing this, director of Iran’s Investment, Economic and Technical Aid Organization for foreign investment noted that three financial companies from Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will also take part in the bid to purchase the Iranian bank, PressTV quoted Mehr as reporting.
According to the law, Ahmad Jamali pointed out that foreign investors can purchase up to 40 percent of the shares of Iranian banks. “Money and Credit Council has also passed a bill on setting up branches of foreign banks in Iran,“ he added.
Noting that the council is forwarding the bill to Parliament for ratification, Jamali asserted that once lawmakers ratify the bill, foreign entrepreneurs can take part in Iran’s economic projects.
Noting that all foreign banks willing to participate in Iranian projects are subject to national laws and regulations, he underlined that in line with this, foreign banks should also comply with the profit rates paid by Iranian banks.

The Samand assembly line will begin trial production by Feb. 19, 2008.

Samand automobile assembly line will be set up in the Senegalese capital of Dakar by March 2008 once the fund is made available by Export Development Bank of Iran.
The bank’s Public Relations Office reported that given the bylaw on supplying funds for overseas investment, the bank finalized the allocation of $42.5 million, or 85 percent of the total costs, to set up Samand assembly line in Dakar, according to Mehr.
The report said that the bank agreed that the collateral be reduced to 50 percent, adding the bank would receive the other 50 percent from the turnover of the project.
According to officials of leading auto manufacturer Iran Khodro, the project is to go on trial production by Feb. 19 and inaugurated by March 2008.
The bank also disclosed that it was decided that Iran Khodro export 2,000 Samand taxis to Senegal to improve the urban public transportation in that country.
The scheme will be presented to the bank which in turn will meet the financial resources once it considers the project economically and technically viable.

An official with Imam Khomeini Relief Committee (IKRC) said in Tajikistan that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has proposed six of its projects in different parts of Iran be executed by the IKRC.
Director of IKRC International Affairs Mohammad Mohammadifar told IRNA on Saturday that assisting non-governmental organizations in development, poverty eradication and regional economic growth are among the main objectives of the UNDP in Tehran.
He added, “Feasibility studies on the plans are being conducted by UNDP and IKRC experts.“
The official also referred to the agreement with WHO (World Health Organization) to implement sanitation projects for poor families and said “Under the agreement, IKRC and WHO are going to cooperate in three fields of health for women, orphans and poor families.
Mohammadifar, who is heading a delegation, is visiting Tajikistan to sign an agreement on exchanging experiences with Tajikistan and attending a wedding ceremony of 80 couples in Dushanbe.

The project to develop Tang-e Bijar gas field in Ilam province is approaching production stage, said managing director of Iranian Central Oilfields Company.
Alireza Zeighami stated that the gas field has the capacity to produce five million cubic meters of gas per day in the initial phase, according to a fax sent to Iran Daily on Sunday.
Once Ilam gas refinery becomes operational, the capacity will reach seven million cubic meters of gas daily.
The official noted that five oil wells, centralized facilities and pipes to conduit gas from wells to installations have already been tested.
The power system of the gas field has also become operational, he added.
Finishing touches are being put on two 41-km pipelines to transfer gas from the field to Ilam refinery and they will soon be tested, Zeighami said.
On the cost of the development project, the official explained that 1,650 billion rails have so far been spent on clearing mines left from the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), planning and purchase of required goods, execution and drilling operations, launching installations, pipe lines, power transmission and telecommunication networks.
He said that the project has generated jobs for domestic and local people. Some 40 percent of the facilities required for the project are supplied by domestic producers. The remaining equipment is imported since the gas is highly sour.
Tang-e Bijar gas field is located 70 km southwest of Ilam. The province will have access to gas once the project comes into stream.

Government and private sector will team up to construct the first terminal in the northeastern region for export of agricultural products.
In a fax to Iran Daily on Sunday, deputy head of Aras Free Zone Organization said that the terminal will be built in Aras Free Trade-Industrial Zone at a cost of over 400 billion rials.
Ali Jahangiri said that an area of 300 hectares is being developed to facilitate export of agricultural products to countries such as Russia, northern Europe, the CIS and Caucasian countries.
He predicted that the terminal will be operational by March 2010.
The official regretted that despite inexpensive and diverse products, the country is not successful in non-oil exports.
Jahangiri observed that investment in exports of agricultural products is necessary given that the country has high potential in this field as well as in the packing industry.

The area under cotton cultivation in Golestan province has dropped to 13,000 hectares from 180,000 hectares.

Cotton cultivation declined to the lowest figure in the year to March 2007, head of Presiding Board of Iran Cotton Cultivators Union said.
Ali Mozaffari told Fars that the area under cotton cultivation has declined to 130,000 hectares in the year to March 2007 from 320,000 hectares in year to March 1975.
Once the highest export commodity after oil, domestically-produced cotton now meets only half of the demand of textile industries, he regretted.
Iran now imports 50 percent of the cotton required for textile industries, he added.
He noted that out of 106 cotton-processing factories, 26 have gone bankrupt and 40 operate at minimum capacity.
In addition to threatening 30,000 households dependent on cotton growing, reduced cotton cultivation leads to rise of wheat pests and diseases, he said, noting that spraying pesticide on wheat farms has increased three-fold.
Mozaffari continued that as per International Cotton Advisory Committee, 40 cents in assistance and 10 cents in export subsidies should be paid to the farmers for each kilogram of cotton. Given the low price fixed by the government for purchasing cotton, it appears that an invisible tax is levied on cotton cultivators, he complained.
He noted, “Lower cotton cultivation has encouraged businessmen to import cotton. Price of imported cotton stands at 156.3 cents for textile factories, he said, adding domestic cotton cultivation should be supported in an effort to reduce the costs of factories.
He said that the area under cotton cultivation in Golestan province has dropped to 13,000 hectares from 180,000 hectares.
He explained that although cotton cultivation had been privatized as per Article 44 of the Constitution and the non-governmental cooperatives had taken the responsibilities, the government controlled the sector again.
Presently 22,000 households depending on cotton for livelihood are members of Union of Cotton Cooperatives--accounting for 70 percent of the cotton growers, he said.
However cotton cooperatives have suspended their activities due to wrong policies of Agricultural Jihad Ministry, he concluded.