04-09-08 The Head of Iran's Expediency Council in a meeting with head and members of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industries stressed Iran's need for a wide-scale privatization, "in the real sense of the word."
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani meanwhile asked for the drafting, ratification, and implementation of the country's 5th Development Plan in line with the system's major policies. He said, "The indexes stated in general guidelines for drafting the 5th Development Plan, if properly heeded, can lead to an evolution."

The Leadership Experts Assembly Speaker emphasized, "By moving in line with the country's 20-Year Perspective Document and implementing the objectives of the Constitutional Article 44 (on privatization) we can take long strides for the Islamic Iran, on condition that the executive moves would be made sagaciously and with a very comprehensive outlook."
Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani considered proper management as the most important factor for economic foundations, adding, "There is a wide gap between the private sector and the government in this respect and we need to move towards real privatization and move towards free market economy in Iran."

The head of the Expediency Council said that the main objective of privatization is taking maximum advantage of the country's human and material resources, adding, "Providing an appropriate atmosphere for the performance of the private sector would solve two major problems of the country, namely lowering the unemployment and the inflation indexes."
Rafsanjani asked for cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the Expediency Council in both policy making and supervising over the implementation of the laws.

At the beginning of the meeting the Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Yahya Ale-Es'haq said that the heeding the objectives of country's 20 Year Perspective Document and implementing the Constitutional Article 44 would lead to an economic evolution in Iran. He added, "Heeding the necessities of harbingering an economic revolution can guarantee its success."
Ale-Es'haq said that one of those necessities is changing the framework of doing business and commerce in the country, adding, "Changing the mentalities and elimination of the trouble maker laws for doing business are among the other matters in need of consideration."