A month has passed since the presence of new members of the Tehran Chamber in parliament from the private sector. During this period, significant developments have taken place in the country, a significant part of which is effective in the state of the private sector and the future of businesses.
The news of the nuclear agreements, the appointment of a new minister of industry, the relative fall in the price of the dollar, the continued growth of inflation and the problems of subsistence of the populations linked to the power cuts in the industries are all in the long list of developments of the past days.
Mahmoud Najafiarab, the new head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, believes that to overcome all the economic crises in the country, the space between the government and the private sector must first be restored and improved.
According to him, constructive interaction should become the dominant discourse and, at least for a long period, national resources should become the main priority of all political groups.
In this conversation, Najafi Arab explains an important part of the solutions to overcome the current crises.
You have been elected as the new president of this chamber by the vote of the new members of the Tehran Chamber delegation and after 8 years we are witnessing new developments in the presidency and practically all the members have changed. Will these developments change the direction of movement of the coin in the future? What are the most important plans and goals that the Tehran Chamber delegations will pursue during this period?
At the beginning of my speech, I must thank the efforts of the previous board of the Tehran Chamber, in particular the engineer Khansari, the former president of the Tehran Chamber, whose place is really empty at this time and who has invested a lot of effort over the past 8 years.
Our work as members of the 10th Session of Tehran Chamber Delegations has begun, as the members of this session, like the previous two sessions, were elected in solidarity, unity and teamwork. , and besides, our most important investment in this session is to maintain this solidarity and this unity between the members.
This cohesion has formed a common core and a hard shell and is a very precious opportunity for us to take together and with great effort important milestones in planning for the future and being the standard bearer of "Tomorrow's Room" .
Our approach in this period is “demanding”, “revolutionary” and attempts to “raise the position of the private sector” by maintaining interaction and convergence with the government.
As representatives of the private sector, we believe that the Chamber can and must be demanding and appear determined and serious on behalf of its 30,000 members and on behalf of thousands of private sector activists in pursuing the demands of economic activists and the private sector.
Of course, this business pursuit should not be seen as creating controversy for the country. Sobriety and follow-up; The two make sense together.

We are not looking for chaos, but we always follow the demands of the private sector.
We must be the voice of the private sector; The voice of artisans, traders, farmers and mining activists and entrepreneurs who have tried with great difficulty to hold the flag of the economy high and despite sanctions, many problems and even malice, they have not stopped working and showed that they are still with Their main concern is the progress of Iran and the improvement of the living conditions of the population.
   The beginning of the tenth session of the representatives of the chamber; This coincided with the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the chamber as a private sector parliament, and by the way, this coincidence should be considered auspicious. In fact, we are the main bearers of an institution which is a sturdy tree with deep roots and immense shade, and in addition to protecting and publicizing its precious history, we must try to protect this tree well and create the conditions for its growth. as much as possible.
   As representatives of the private sector, we try to stand with the people of the country and the activists of the private sector by following the example of the pioneers of the chamber such as Amin al-Zarb and our predecessors at different times and by following the Chamber's actions in the area of social responsibility seriously.
   The Tehran Chamber, as the oldest institution in the private sector, is considered a huge social capital for the country, and we, as members of the 10th term of representatives, given this valuable position and potential, try to seamlessly implement the "glass room" and "accountability" in practice. To expand the range of member services and provide space for membership growth.
   Our goal in the first stage is to increase the membership to 40,000 members and in the next stage, God willing, to increase the membership to 50,000 members.
   It is a fact that the greater the number of members, the stronger the chamber can claim.
   In addition to this, in this time of delegations, we are taking serious steps to realize the global slogan of "the fourth generation of chambers of commerce".
   The 12th Congress of World Chambers of Commerce, held two years ago in Dubai, had as its main slogan "The fourth generation of chambers of commerce".
   Currently, chambers of commerce around the world, apart from their general and general functions in order to provide services to members; They have a particular vision of society, civil societies, social issues and sustainable development, and by using technology, special and up-to-date platforms, they try to provide better services to their members, and we also try to take steps in this direction in the 10th term of delegations and expand our links with chambers of commerce in other countries and define and implement joint work.
   What is the relationship between the elected members of the delegations and the members appointed by the government? We witnessed disagreements in the first two meetings of the delegations; Do you have a proximity plan between members?
There is absolutely no disagreement or gap between the elected members of the Tehran House of Representatives and the government appointed representatives, but we have seen that when electing the members of the leadership of the government representatives, they are also became candidates, and by the way, Mr. Niarki, one of the government officials who has a managerial and industrial background, was appointed first vice-president along with Rai Bala who attended the board of directors.
It reflects the interactive look that is already in the room. I believe that the current 60 members of the Tehran Chamber delegation exceed the title of members elected or appointed by the government; We are an integrated organization and structure, and together we must pursue the mission of improving the place of the private sector in the country's economy; A point that has been repeatedly emphasized by the Supreme Leadership, the Honorable President and other senior officials in the country.
We believe that on the one hand, private sector activists need interaction with government and other institutions to advance their goals, and on the other hand, it is government and government institutions that depend on the cooperation with economic activists and the private sector to achieve success.
For example, in recent years, when the country was under the toughest sanctions, the government should have facede to a severe crisis without relying on the private sector and economic activists to provide the country with the necessary items, including basic products, and to escape sanctions for the export of manufactured goods.
I believe that the chamber's role in this process is like a bridge between private sector activists and governmental and sovereign institutions that establishes this link and creates an atmosphere of cooperation and interactions.
Fortunately, in this period, chamber representatives are a combination of young and experienced entrepreneurial forces, and the two together can be an effective force in promoting private sector agendas.
One of the programs we will follow in this period of the activities of Tehran House Representatives; Expand work and intellectual interactions with various ministries, especially the Ministry of Security, Agriculture, Economy and Health. We invite honorable government ministers and heads of governmental and sovereign organizations and institutions to be our guests in the hall in Tehran, and extend our hand of assistance and cooperation to them.
Unfortunately, over the past few years we have seen an unhealthy competition between government and other institutions with private sector activists, which must be ended through consensus, cooperation and constructive interactions.
Respected members of the government and government institutions should not forget that we are all pursuing the same objective, which is the development and progress of our country and the improvement of the living conditions of the population.
In addition, the Chamber of Commerce is recognized as the adviser to the three powers and in the law on the removal of obstacles to competitive production it is stressed that it must consult the Chamber when approving and implementing implementation of the new economic laws.
As representatives of the private sector, we stand ready to be the advisory arm of the three forces, especially the government; According to specialized commissions, the presence of active members and departments such as economy, education, business, international, etc., the Tehran Chamber has special expert capacities that can help the government and other institutions to solve the country's problems, to formulate new laws and the modification of laws and procedures helps.
Also, in this period, we are trying to use the advisory capacity of think tanks and universities more than in the past and to facilitate the way to more joint work and to be the link between industry, production and universities and to hope to support the younger generation.
In recent years, especially since the mid-1990s, private and economic sector activists have faced many obstacles in the business arena; What do you think are the most significant barriers and what actions do you think the Chamber can take in the new era to reduce or remove these barriers that businesses face?
Due to the conditions that have prevailed in recent years, our country is full of various laws, guidelines and regulations that the governing bodies produce and implement in this way, and they have become a serious challenge for the private sector and economic activists.
We have seen that with the departure of a chief executive and the arrival of a new chief executive, new rules and regulations are enacted, and instead of removing redundant, cumbersome and boring laws, according to the law on the continuously improving the business environment, they are constantly issuing new regulations and guidelines, which is against the law and needs to be corrected.
On the other hand, one of the serious challenges facing the business environment in Iran is the state economy; I think this is the biggest crisis in the Iranian economy.
The size of the government in Iran is very large, and the issue of reducing the government, which has been insisted on for years, remains only at the level of words, and we even see action against it.
Currently, the number of government employees in Iran is around 4.5 million people, while in a country like Japan, which is one of the top 5 economies in the world, the number of government employees , as far as I know, is about 250,000 people; This point shows the dynamics of a country's economy.
Our economy is not nimble at all because it is government and oil based, and every year a significant portion of the country's budget is spent on paying salaries and benefits for government employees and day-to-day business , and we are seeing very large deficits.
Unfortunately, we see that instead of reducing interference in the economy, as I have already said, the government has become the main competitor of the private sector, and this competition is not even fair.
The government applies mandatory and regulatory pricing, benefits from various tariff exemptions, etc. and waits for the private sector to come to life; In this situation, how can the private sector be competitive?
   A very important point that has been repeatedly emphasized by senior leaders over the past few years is that the government should leave the economy in the hands of the real private sector and the people, and do the regulation itself, and stop to order the prices and to create an atmosphere of rent and corruption with measures such as the allocation of preferential currency. Take it to a certain group and let the business atmosphere calm down.
Until we see stability in the business environment, the conditions to attract foreign and domestic investment will not be met and we will see more capital leaving the country.
Why did the depreciation index exceed the investment?
   Shouldn't the government think of a way to solve these problems? Unfortunately, I must say that during these years, the business environment in our country has continued to deteriorate; This means that not only have previous challenges gone unresolved, but we have also seen new issues emerge, leading experts to say that we face a society of "unresolved crises".
Unfortunately, we see new crises constantly piling on old ones, and it seems that governments are not thinking about the fundamental solution to the problems.
In my opinion, the economic organization of the country should work on the basis of a long-term plan and take serious measures to solve the problems by removing inconvenient laws, reducing the government, turning the economy over to the private sector , reducing government-mandated interventions and in-governing the economy in general.
The government should pave the way for production and the work of economic activists and the private sector by removing barriers to production and reforming tax, banking, social security, etc. procedures.
You mentioned barriers faced by companies as internal penalties; What do you think of foreign sanctions and their effects on the country's economy?
The cruel sanctions of recent years, especially since the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, have caused much damage to the Iranian economy and people's livelihoods, and the government and the sovereign should not act passively to respect ; What one of the former presidents said and said that sanctions are a piece of paper was 100% wrong, and we have seen what serious challenges oil, auto, SWIFT, etc. sanctions have. have created for the country, and more importantly, the high costs to the Iranian economy and to the subsistence basket of the imposed people; For example, in the field of medicines and medical equipment or the supply of coronavirus vaccines, as well as internal mismanagement, the sanctions have really endangered the lives of thousands of patients.
As pointed out by senior leaders, while resisting coercion from the United States and some other countries, the country has to deal with open door policies with other countries and, in the meantime, the expansion of trade and economic relations with neighbors must be a priority. .
On the other hand, Iran's foreign policy should not be based on looking East or West, but the country's economic diplomacy should be based on national interests and interactions global; The important thing is that no country has reached a point by closing its country's doors to itself and others and isolating itself from the world, and our country is no exception to this issue.
Given the economic conditions, the nuclear negotiations should be followed seriously and the nuclear agreement and diplomacy should be given priority in this area.
Meanwhile, Tehran Chamber, as an independent and globally recognized institution, can play an important and effective role in economic diplomacy by communicating with chambers of commerce around the world.
In recent years, the government's reliance on private and economic sector activists in the area of economic openings in the area of sanctions has been a totally successful experience and can be a model for entrusting different sectors of the economy to the private sector. In a situation where the government was not even able to import drugs due to crippling sanctions, it was the private sector activists of the pharmaceutical industry who met the basic needs of patients through domestic production and to imports, and these efforts in other industries such as petroleum, steel, cellulose, etc. can also be seen Economic and private sector activists have not allowed the country's economic and production wheel to come to a standstill in recent years as the country faces the most oppressive sanctions, and have still kept export and import corridors open with effort and spending money.
In addition to obstacles to production and business, we are witnessing the weakening of social trust and hope at the community level, and we see people facing severe inflation and economic and resource challenges. subsistence; What do you think should be done to solve these problems?
Our country is in very difficult economic and social conditions and we are witnessing important social transformations in society.
At the same time, much of society is grappling with poverty and livelihood issues.
In this situation, I think the economy is the Achilles' heel of the country and if the economic situation improves, a significant part of the country's problems will be solved.
As the CEO rightly and accurately pointed out in the early 1402 message on the issue of reducing inflation and expanding production, taking these two components into account can throw the bases for the development of the economy and the improvement of the general conditions of the country, but it should be known that the state, mandated and nafti economy is considered as a major obstacle to any transformation and economic operation of the country.
In addition to improving economic conditions, restoring social capital and public trust, which has unfortunately been badly damaged in recent years due to poor management, is seen today as one of the most urgent needs. importance of Iran, and we in Tehran Chamber, by giving importance to the young generation and creating opportunities for the expression of the thoughts of young people, in this new period, we are trying to do our part to create hope and support new ventures as in the past. Unfortunately, we have seen that the wave of emigration from the country has accelerated to the point that it is announced that, for example, several thousand doctors and nurses have immigrated, or thousands of young Iranians working in the fields start-ups have left Iran obtaining work and start-up visas from other countries.
Moreover, the statistics on the outflow of capital from the country are increasing and all this should be a serious alarm for the future of the country, and the inefficiencies in management must be put to an end before it is too late, and the wisdom and the help of experts and specialists in various fields should be on the agenda.