[2008-02-26]  Privatization Gaining Momentum in Iran
The deputy minister of Iran's Economy and Financial Affairs says privatization has gained momentum in the country after the government clarified its policies with regard to the Article 44 of the Constitution.

Gholamreza Heidari Kord-e Zanganeh made the remark in a live program in Alalam studio in Tehran on Sunday night.

The official said that "privatization in Iran is not only based on productivity but it follows an Islamic model which in turn is based on the efficiency of economy and social justice".

Heidari said the privatization process in Iran is developing in two sectors, first the private sector which aims to increase efficiency and productivity of the economy, and second the cooperative sector which the government has introduced in form of 'justice share'.

The official said statistics shows that the offerings have increased five-fold within the past 11 months compared to the past 16 years.

The Iranian deputy minister said that privatization in Iran is aimed at broadening share ownership, public participation in economy, boosting the investment market in the country and downsizing the government so that it becomes a policy-maker and a supervisor which only takes care of its ruling duties.

According to the Article 44 of the Constitution, Iran's economy consists of three sectors: state, cooperative, and private.

Referring to this categorization, Kord Zanganeh said: "At the beginning of the Islamic revolution, due to indeterminacy of these three sectors as well as a lack of clear limits of power for the government, more than 60 percent of the country's economy was run by the state. Then, the leader of the Islamic revolution ordered the officials to make efforts in determining the borders and offerings and expanding privatization in the economy so that the ground for the public participation was paved extensively."

He further noted that the project has so far received a huge welcome by both foreign and domestic investors.

"The Iranian stock market has grown by 6 percent to seize the second position among 62 countries in the last month; and this is the result of the amount of privatization in the country," the official added.
Source: Copyright © 2006- 2008 Alalam Inc.