Iran Chamber of Commerce says the private sector parliament will inject new ideas and hopes into the country in a bid to overcome difficulties and move towards economic development.
“Despite all the problems and difficulties, we will start the New Year with new hopes, ideas and efforts to drive the country towards economic development,” Gholam Hossein Shafei, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) President said in a pre-recorded message to mark the beginning of the new Persian Year 1398 (21 March-20 March 2020).
He expressed hope the New Year “be different from the previous year for the Iranian nation and government.”
The last Iranian year was particularly hard for the government as well as the ordinary citizens after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 international treaty on Iran nuclear program and reimposed sanctions in two rounds (last August and November).
Washington’s punitive measures made the Iranian currency rial to considerably lose its value against the US dollar and euro. Secondary sanctions also targeted any financial dealings with Iran that has impeded the country to openly export its energy or import its staples, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices and agri-foods. Delay in imports also led to drastic price hikes on basic commodities.
Shafei, who won in elections at locals chambers of commerce in early March, also called the government of President Hassan Rouhani, to “learn from previous errors and bad decision” so “new ways for new economic cooperation are opened”.
He was referring to several measures that government took in a bid to provide basic commodities at lower import tariffs but that led to rampant corruption in the country, such as assigning a governmen-proposed dollar rate much lower than the free market's tariffs to the import of basic necessities.
“I hope new decisions open new ways for the country’s economy so we can overcome the problems with more efforts,” the ICCIMA president reiterated.