In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad, and upon his Pure Progeny, particularly His remaining vestige of God on earth.
Welcome dear brothers, sisters, entrepreneurs, activists, and groundbreakers. I have truly benefitted from the things that our friends have mentioned here [today]. Your spirits are very good, your hopes are high, and your activities are completely tangible.
Of course, this does not come as a surprise to me. I honestly am not surprised if I see prominence in our youth, our people, our employers, our entrepreneurs, and our researchers. It is clear to me that there is much talent in the country.
In addition, we are an exceptional nation in terms of the country’s God-given natural resources. And we are an outstanding, unique country both in terms of geographical matters, our international and political geographical position, and also in terms of our human resources. We truly are outstanding with regard to our workforce. Now, someone here mentioned that others are attracting our workforce. Why shouldn’t we attract the workforce of other [countries]? Well, we don’t need to do that. If we are very active and if we know how to keep our own workforce and train them, we don’t need to attract and bring others here from abroad.
What I see in my mind, in my mental vision and logic, about the future of the country, the future of this nation, and about advancements in the knowledge of this country is much more than what is perceived or expressed in these conventional assumptions that are made. It is truly much more than this.
Now, one of our friends here who works in the wood industry spoke about planting eucalyptus trees. It reminded me of a memory I have. I saw a eucalyptus tree in Qom that was about the size of an apple tree. The eucalyptus tree was [the size of] a normal tree. When I was in Iranshahr, there was a garden, a big farm near Bampur, which was a few miles away from Iranshahr. There was a garden that the Italians had built there years earlier for their experiments and things of that sort. I sometimes used to visit that garden. I saw a very tall tree – or a group of tall trees for that matter. They looked like these old sycamore trees. They were perhaps about fifteen meters high. I wondered what kind of trees they were. I asked [the people there] what they were, and they said they were eucalyptus trees. I had seen a eucalyptus tree in Qom before in the size that I mentioned, but the eucalyptus trees there…! I liken the growth of the Iranian nation and talent of the Iranian nation to this difference between the eucalyptus in Bampur in Iranshahr and the eucalyptus in Qom. We have outstanding talents and capabilities.
Well, during a meeting with some of you last year, some of you may or may not have been there, I mentioned some things. Our friends said some things. We benefitted from that meeting and perhaps that is why I decided the slogan of this year should be “Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating.” This decision may have been somewhat influenced by the statements of those who were present in that meeting last year. This year, in the exhibition that was held here two days ago, I saw that good work has been done both in the field of knowledge-based companies and also in the field of job creation and entrepreneurship. Some relatively good work has been done.
The friends who spoke here today, I don’t know how many there were, have all given the same hope and promise that concerning the issues of entrepreneurship, employment, advancement in science, and growth in the economy and production in the country there are advancements that can be felt. This can undoubtedly be ascertained from this meeting and the various information that I have at my disposal.
In the first half of 1401 AHS [Mar. – Sept. 2022], some growth was seen in the economic indicators. These indicators were compared to the first half of 1400 AHS [Mar. – Sept. 2021] and the results were announced by official organizations. These show that there is growth and movement. The growth in gross domestic production without including oil, and the growth in the added value of the industry and mining sector – especially in the production of large workshops - shows a growth of 6.6%, which is a good figure. In the growth of fixed capital formation and the like, all of these show there has been progress.
I would like to say two things. I would like to say something briefly to the honorable officials who are here today, particularly the Vice President. Keep in mind the things that our friends have talked about here. These were not just reports of their activities and achievements. They were reports, [but] there were also complaints along with the reports and I believe that almost all of the complaints they made here were true. Everything they mentioned in terms of the expectations they have from the government, from the officials, and from me were correct. But as you know and the government officials are aware of, my duty in these matters is not to intervene in executive matters. [Rather,] I insist on implementation. I do not intervene in other things that were mentioned either such as nano [technology] and other things of that sort, not even in issues related to the military, for which I have a direct responsibility. I insist [on implementation], I show you the way, I follow up on matters, and I ask questions.
I would like to ask you now to form a committee for all the things that our friends talked about here. These are not things that can be managed by just one person. You need to form a committee. A committee is needed for each one of these [fields] in the center, department, or ministry that it is related to. Supervisors must definitely be present and used in this committee. [You can benefit from] the gentlemen who spoke here today and others too. Take note of their opinions and follow up on them. That is, ask them what they have done on the task that was assigned to them.
There were reports on health issues [today], reports on industrial issues, reports on matters related to oil, and although agricultural issues were not raised here, that is also important. These need to be followed up. You need to follow up on these matters. If you do, the country’s [economy] will reach the required growth. I would like to share a few points with you now about growth.
We need rapid, continuous growth. The reason for this is that we are behind in some areas. In the 1390s [from 2011 to 2021 AD], we encountered a setback and a so-called relative standstill in economic activities for various reasons. Not all of this can be attributed to weak management. No, some of it is related to external factors and part of it is related to internal factors. The sanctions had an impact, the reduction in oil prices at a certain point in time had an effect, and the fact that the country was focused on nuclear issues that made the economy dependent on that, had an impact. Various issues like this have had an impact. As a consequence of this, we are currently a decade behind and there are many negative indicators showing this. These are reliable indicators from official organizations and not just some empty claims.
These indicators are negative in important sectors that I have noted here, [but] I do not want to spend time on that now. Compensating for having fallen behind is obviously not an easy task. It will naturally require continuous, medium-term economic growth, if not long-term. In other words, we must follow things up, concentrate our efforts, and proceed on while maintaining the necessary conditions for at least seven, eight, or ten years. I will say a few words on this matter soon.
This is why in the 7th Development Plan we have set our main priority in the program to be economic advancement along with justice. The issue of justice is also important. That is, if we move forward without justice, it will be as though we have not progressed at all. Progress must be accompanied by justice. Of course, there are certain procedures that must be followed. But it is not something that is impossible, problematic, or ambiguous. No, there are ways for this.
We set economic growth at eight percent in the policies of the 7th [Development] Plan. If we can truly achieve an average growth rate of eight percent during the five-year period of the plan, I think we will have done very well. We need this growth. Why? For several reasons. We need to achieve this growth for several reasons. I am addressing everyone here, both the government officials and also my dear brothers and sisters who are here, those who are active in the field of economics. You too are the ones I am addressing here. This growth will come about with everyone’s help.
There are four reasons why we must definitely seek growth. The first reason is that people in the country obviously have problems with the cost of living and the well-being of families. This cannot be overcome in the absence of economic growth. If we want to eliminate poverty and if we want to increase the well-being of families in the country, economic growth is needed. It is not possible without it. That in itself is a sufficient reason. This is the government’s responsibility. This is the responsibility of capable people – those who have intellectual, financial, or managerial capabilities. Everyone has a responsibility in getting this done. This is the first reason.
The second reason is that Iran’s position must be raised in the regional and world economy. You know that raising a country’s position largely depends on its economic situation in today’s world. When a country’s currency becomes weakened and its economic potential drops, its credibility in today’s world drops. To protect the country’s position in the region and the world, we need this economic growth. This is the second reason.
The third reason is that we have many professionals among our human resources. Fortunately, one of the things we take pride in and one of the advantages we have is that we have a large professional workforce in the country. Well, we had, for example, about 150,000 students in the beginning of the Revolution. Now, we have millions of students and millions of graduates in different scientific fields. These people need jobs. They want to have an occupation. Yes, it is an honor to have a young, professional workforce, but what if [those young people] do not have a job? What if they are unemployed? This is a disgrace. It is not something to take pride in anymore. We keep asking ourselves why these people are leaving? Why do they move abroad? Well, you need to give them jobs.
Some time ago, there was a similar meeting in this Hussainiyah. I said there that our educated, competent, young people, who have either come from abroad, have studied abroad, or have studied inside the country only want two things from us. The first [thing they want] is a job, and the second thing they want is to have the opportunity to advance scientifically. We must provide these people with careers. If we fail to advance rapidly, we will not be able to create employment for this large group of young professionals and scientists. This is the third reason.
The fourth reason is that we have a large number of young people in our country today. But will we have the same number of young people tomorrow? We don’t know. With the situation I am seeing today, despite all the emphasis that I have made on this, the results are not very promising. We may not have this many young people in the future. We must make the country wealthy for that day. If the country is not wealthy on the day when we do not have many young people anymore, we will not be able to make it wealthy anymore. This is the fourth reason why we should focus on bringing about [economic] growth today. The country needs to become wealthy so that it can manage itself in the future when we don’t have many young people anymore.
So, how should we achieve this growth? Of course, there are certain requirements for this, some of which were mentioned today in the talks of our respected speakers. I will also share some points with you in this regard. Of course, some of these requirements are related to government agencies. It is their responsibility, and they must follow up on this. Some other [requirements] concern those who are active in the economic field and other requirements concern the general population. I think one of our friends here spoke about the issue of “wasting.” Well, wasting water, wasting meat, wasting bread, and throwing bread away – these are things that concern the general population. Therefore, if we wish to achieve that purpose [economic growth], there are certain things we must do. The things that must be done include the things that the government must do and the things that businesspeople, scientists, and the general population must do.
There are two main pillars here. I will mention the titles of these two fundamental pillars first. The first one is increasing funding for production. This funding should increase. We have had periods in which activities were carried out, [but] funding was on the decline and the consequences of this were seen several years later. Unfortunately, this is one of the outcomes of the problems that I said we had during the 1390s [from 2011 to 2021 AD]. One of our negative indicators there was in funding. Not much was done. Of course, it was also the same before that. We had a problem in this area in the previous period too.
One issue is increasing funding. The second issue is improving productivity. Our situation is not good in terms of productivity, especially in some areas, productivity is very low. Work is done, [resources] are used, [but productivity is poor]. Now, in the pictures that we were shown of the work that is being done – I don’t know which picture it was – I saw an old irrigation system where the water was passing through a muddy stream and moving along. This is an example of our irrigation system. I once said a few years ago that about 90% of the country's water is used for agriculture. Ten percent of the country’s water is used for industry and in homes. 90% of it is used for agriculture. If we can save 10% of this 90%, we will have recycled the amount of water that is used for industries, for home drinking water, and for other uses. The issue of productivity is like this. We don’t use water efficiently. We don’t use energy efficiently. These are two fundamental pillars: increasing funding and improving productivity.
There are also other requirements, I have written down a few of them, which I will mention very briefly because the meeting is getting long, and I want to finish it sooner. First of all, the executive bodies of the government that are responsible for economic issues – both the country’s general economy and different economic sectors – must have a strategic outlook. They need to have a long-term plan. Of course, I usually ask the [government] officials about this and they state that they do have this kind of plan. Well, if a long-term plan, a vision, and a strategic plan exist, we will not suffer from routineness and a zigzag movement. This routineness causes harm everywhere. We say something one day, the next day, we violate it or change it in some way or another. This is exactly what these gentlemen are complaining about. Many of these gentlemen who are active in business are critical of this. I will talk about the business environment and such matters later on. This is the first [requirement].
Secondly, executive bodies must support the development of private enterprises. The country cannot be managed without the activities of private enterprises. An important mistake that took place in the first years of the Revolution, and the effects of it still remain to a large extent, was that they pushed the private sector aside and entrusted everything, even the sale of retail goods, for example, to the officials, the government and government organizations. This was a big mistake. Private enterprises, which is where the presence, ability, initiative, and money of the people are, must be supported. They need to be in the middle of the field, they are the ones who should manage the economy.
I have repeatedly used the following example. There are two ways you can work. You can put a load in a pickup truck, sit behind the wheel of the pickup, and easily transfer this load from one place to another. [Or] you can abandon the pickup, carry the load on your shoulders, get tired, not reach your home, and let the load fall as you are going and go to waste. The private sector must be supported. The private sector cannot enter the field if it has no support, and if it does enter the field [in this way], it will not succeed.
I know some people who are religious, pious, and interested in the country and the system of the Islamic Republic. They managed a private business, a poultry farm, an industrial unit, for example, with sincerity. They said that they could have put this money in the bank instead and lived on its interest for the rest of their lives. There wouldn’t have been any of these difficulties and they wouldn’t have had to pay taxes either. However, they chose to endure the hardships of this work instead, [but] it remained half-finished because they were not supported. There was much pressure on them. Now I will talk about this again in the next sections.
We have set policies in Article 44, but contrary to what I had imagined, I see that some of our good brothers, some good, well-intentioned people, are objecting to the policies of Article 44. These objections are not right. These policies have been carefully chosen. Much thought has gone into this. Those who were involved in economic issues, were interested in social justice, and diligently sought social justice all approved of it. However, it has not been implemented. Unfortunately, the administrations have failed to work correctly. Very little has been done, several consecutive administrations have failed to implement the policies of Article 44.
It needs to be implemented. Of course, this needs to be done carefully. Care should be taken and this needs to be well-managed. There must be discipline in work and this work needs to take place. Therefore, the second requirement is that government agencies should support social enterprises. Both financial and legal support are needed. Those who I am addressing in this part are the government, the parliament and the judiciary. This means that all three branches of Iran’s government are the ones who are being addressed in this advice.
The third thing that is needed is that our knowledge and technology must improve. The amount of success we have experienced today is due to the country’s scientific progress which thank God, began 15 or 16 years ago. There has been good progress, and improvements have been made. The reason you saw this young man come here courageously declaring that we can do this, we have accomplished this and can accomplish that, and so on, is because these people have made progress in knowledge. The path to science has opened up to them. I told them to cross the frontiers of science, pass through these frontiers, move forward, and not be satisfied with remaining at the end of the line of the world’s caravan of science. Move forward.
A few years ago, I stated that I have a wish and that we must achieve this wish. What I said was that we need to plan and move in such a way that in 50 years from now if anyone in the world wishes to hear about the latest scientific achievements, he will need to learn Farsi first. He will need to learn Farsi in order to hear about the latest scientific findings. We must move forward like this. Now, about seven, eight, or ten years have passed from the 50 years that I spoke about. You need to follow up on this, and you must make an effort. Therefore, one of the tasks is related to the advancement of knowledge and technology, both knowledge and technology. The people responsible for carrying out this work are enterprises, knowledge and research centers, universities, research centers, research institutes, and think tanks. These places and also the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology need to pursue this. I believe this is a very important task.
It was during the seventh or eighth administration that I insisted on the formation of this vice presidency. The late Dr. [Taghi] Ebtekar (may God’s mercy be upon him) who was in charge of this department came to me complaining that he was not given any room for action, nor was he being assigned any work or responsibilities to carry out. This means that no attention was being given to this matter. Well thank God, this has improved. Later on, in the last few years, thank God, good improvements have been made. Among those who I am addressing on this matter is the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology. This needs to be pursued.
The next requirement is to increase productivity. Work should be done on the issue of increasing productivity as I mentioned, especially on the issue of water, the issue of energy, and the issue of human resources or the workforce. One of the areas where we suffer from a low productivity is in the area of government employees, who have very limited efficient work during a week – not more than a few hours. This is reduction in productivity in the case of human resources. These issues must be remedied. The issue regarding water must be corrected. Regarding the issue of water, one of our acquaintances, or friends, or in a sense he was a colleague, told me about a plan in the area of agriculture. I discussed the plan with the President, and he put the effort to go and see the plan from close up and confirm it.
When I was here at the exhibition the day before yesterday, the respectable Minister of Agriculture [Javad Sadati-Nejad] told me that this plan is the most advanced plan in the world! This is what our Minister of Agriculture says. A plan suddenly appears. A person who is neither a government official nor a minister presents a plan that they have either learned from someone or they themselves have designed it. Our officials say this is the best, most advanced plan in agriculture. Very well, it should be pursued. Pursue it! Well, I was told that this would have some additional costs. Let’s take the future into consideration and consider what will happen after we have paid these expenses. In any case, this is something that is necessary.
The next issue is making products more competitive. The nature of Iranian goods, especially in natural products and such, is the best, finest nature. Our fruit is the best fruit. Our vegetables are the best vegetables. Our stones are the best stones. Many of our mines [are the same]. Our crops are good crops. They are good both in terms of quantity and quality. In the world, we must do something to make [our products] competitive, especially for export. This means we must increase the quality of the final product and reduce the total cost. This is one of the things that is very necessary to be done, especially for the export market. And our facilities are very good.
Again, in the field of agriculture, I told friends who were here the day before yesterday when we had the exhibition here that Iranshahr is an unusual area. One of the good fortunes I have had during my lifetime is that I was exiled to Iranshahr for a while, and I became a little familiar with matters related to Iranshahr, Baluchestan, and the like. They brought me a tomato there in Iranshahr. When I opened my hand [to take it], it filled my hand. A tomato filled my hand like a cantaloupe would. It was as big as a cantaloupe. That is [how it was]. In the same Iranshahr, I was informed that colored cotton was being produced in an area around Iranshahr. It was not white cotton. It was colored cotton, for example, blue or green. That is, this is how the quality of our products is. We [should] be able to talk about these things in the world.
If we make our products competitive, meaning the quality increases and the price decreases at the same time, sanctions will no longer be effective. That day, they told me, “We made the national teams’ jersey, but we had to present it under the name of another country.” Well, there is a solution to this. You must make your product in such a way that they cannot compel you to make it under the name of another country. No, make it in the name of Iran and write that it’s made in Iran. Write “ساخت ایران.” Don’t even write “Made in Iran.” Write this using Farsi letters. Take these products abroad so that they will be compelled to buy them because the quality is good and the price is low. Now, this is already happening in some cases. I know of this. There are some places where we export our products. Products from other places go there too, but our product is better. It has a higher quality. It is better and cheaper, so people welcome it. They don’t prefer the other products. We can!
The same is true in providing services. The job of one of the gentlemen who spoke today is building dams, roads, and such things. Many countries in the world, including African countries and some Latin American countries, need this. They need dams. They need roads. They need big highways. [Others] build these for them at high prices and with poor quality. We can build these for them at a low price and with good quality. Therefore, making goods and providing services more competitively is one of the requirements for growth.
One of the most important requirements is improving the business environment, which I have talked about several times. My speech that was broadcast from our meeting last year showed that I talked about improving the business environment, which I myself did not remember. This is important. We have to make it easy for people to do business, to trade, to produce products. I have just mentioned a few examples here.
We must resolve these conflicting decisions. At times we have conflicting decisions. One organization makes a decision and announces it. Another organization makes the opposite decision or decides against that decision and they announce it as well. And both of them sit around the same table in a cabinet meeting. Such conflicting decisions should not take place. We must resolve conflicting decisions. This is one point so that people know what they must do.
Second is remedying the frequent changes in laws and regulations. Our laws and regulations change frequently. This is addressed to both the administration and the parliament, especially the parliament. A regulation is approved and announced by the administration. Suddenly, voices are raised from the parliament against it, but after arrangements, decisions, and plans have been made based on it. Then it is canceled. This is a problem. This must be remedied. Those being addressed by this strong recommendation are both the parliament and the administration.
The long, winding paths of administrative processes must be remedied. A number of officials and those who are active in different economic sectors once came to me. One of them said that there are many organizations that we have to go to in order to get a license. Since a few years have passed since he said this, I don’t remember the number of organizations. This must be corrected. Now, a unified window has been created in some parts, which is very good. This is very useful. This should be done in different sectors. That is, the administrative process for obtaining a license must be corrected to solve the problems of those who are engaged in businesses. We must minimize the processes and deregulate. This does not mean removing checks and balances. Care should be taken, but these winding paths should be removed.
Another issue related to the improvement of the business environment is about the arbitrary interventions of regulatory and non-regulatory institutions. This must also be abolished. They interfere in the work. Now sometimes the issue is about legal interventions. Someone is told, “What you did was illegal!” [Intervention] is needed here. No one has any objections to that. But they interfere arbitrarily at times. They give illegal opinions even though there is no need for them to do so. This must also be stopped.
Providing funding for activities in the private sector is another thing that helps to improve the business environment. Of course, honorable government officials are present here. One important thing for giving financial aid to the private sector is related to the [National] Development Fund. The Development Fund was originally created to help the private sector. Unfortunately, in different administrations over these years, and since this fund was established until now, whenever their work gets stuck somewhere and they don’t have legal permission to withdraw from the Development Fund, they turn to [me] to permit the use of this fund beyond the limits of the law. This is not right. There is a problem with this. There is a technical problem with this and a problem with the outcome that comes from doing this. Help should be given [to the private sector]. This is also one of the issues.
Another requirement is the issue of financial discipline in the budget. Unfortunately, our budget has structural problems. The peculiar budget deficit that has existed in different years is one of the most problematic financial, and economic complications in our country. We organized the [Supreme] Council for Economic Coordination of the Heads of Branches to solve this problem, [but] it hasn’t been solved yet. Something must be done [to solve] the issue of the budget’s flawed structure. The issue of the budget deficit must be solved. The issue of financial obligations without having reliable resources should be [solved]. Well, sometimes there are cases where revenues are not very reliable and the officials know this themselves, but commitments are made based on these unreliable revenues. Worse than this, there are sometimes demands from the parliament. They impose many obligations on the government while there are no reliable financial resources for them. These things must be stopped. These create problems for the country’s economy and growth. Well, there are such necessities after all.
Another [requirement] is to eliminate government interference in the ownership and management of economic enterprises. There are cases where an important portion of the ownership has been transferred to the people, [but] the management is in the hands of the government. This is also not the right way to do it. Management must be given to the people themselves. This is another issue.
Another important issue is that government agencies must not compete with the private sector. This is also one of the things that I have repeatedly emphasized. That day [at the exhibition], some people were complaining to me. They were complaining that there are these interferences and so on. Even though I have advised against this repeatedly, I would like to once again remind and ask the honorable government officials, especially Mr. Mokhbar, to pursue the issue that the government departments should not compete with what is being done in the private sector. Since the public sector has more facilities and fewer financial concerns, it cripples the private sector. If [the government] enters, it will cripple the private sector. Another [issue] is excessive imports, which several gentlemen warned of here today.
In the end, let me make a few short points. One is that economic enterprises should differentiate between areas of competition and areas of cooperation between themselves. The private sector is a sector where competition exists and should exist. Positive competition brings progress, but this competition does not mean that they should not cooperate and help each other in doing big projects, in making a big move, especially when it is related to economic issues abroad. The different parts of the private sector must cooperate and help each other.
The next point relates to small and medium-sized companies, which I emphasized a few years ago in my New Year speech. These small and medium-sized companies have a great role in creating jobs and added value for goods and they can be of help. We must definitely not ignore them. Both government organizations should pay attention to them, and large companies should cooperate with them in their chain of production. They should develop them and help them.
The last issue is the issue of cooperatives. Cooperatives for production can be one of the best ways for creating jobs, especially for creating economic justice in the entire country.
We hope, God willing, the Almighty God will grant success to you and to the government officials. I witness and testify that the honorable government officials are working with all their strength. I mean the effort being made is truly very good. However, they should be careful about the directions they are taking and do the work in such a way that, God willing, it will have favorable results. I ask the Almighty God for the success of all of you, and I ask for God’s grace and mercy for the pure soul of the Imam (Khomeini) and the pure souls of the dear martyrs.
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