Head of National Center for Globalization Studies Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei speaking at the international conference attended by foreign and Iranian officials and traders on Sunday. Photo by Ali Hassanpour

With a theme ’Towards a Just Globalization’, the three-day International Conference on Globalization, Privatization and Economic Justice opened here on Sunday.
According to the secretary of the conference, globalization has deep and extensive impacts on all aspects of human life and particularly on the world economy.
Mohammad Ali Mousavi said that the consequences are such that in the current era all spheres of economic and political development are influenced directly or indirectly by the process and its implications.
Speaking on the first day of the international event which was attended by foreign and Iranian officials and traders, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, vice president and head of National Center for Globalization Studies, said globalization is inevitable as it redefines human beings.
He said that globalization calls for global participation otherwise it will reach a dead-end. “The Iranian nation has the necessary background and expertise to be an integral part of the global economy as it can handle greater responsibilities on the international area.
“Globalization is the right of all nations, particularly Iran. In fact, Iran should have a greater responsibility in the global economy simply because it has been around longer than many other civilizations. However a greater responsibility does in no way mean a greater share of economic gains.“
According to Rahim Mashaei, globalization is a phenomenon that takes into consideration all nations within the context of economic justice. Sadly enough, at the moment global assets have not been distributed fairly and justly. Since globalization aims to boost national economies of all countries, it cannot and should never be confined to a limited geographical location.
The official argued that governments will become irrelevant in future global economy. “For the same reason, the Iranian nation should prepare itself for a greater role in the future global economy and this cannot be the case unless the country expands its social, cultural, political and economic relations with the rest of the world.
“The Iranian people are proud of being what they are, but such honor should facilitate the process of integrating the national economy into the global economy, otherwise nationalism will become a barrier to this. National, religious, cultural and social tendencies can only be an advantage if they help facilitate the process of globalization.“
The head of National Center for Globalization Studies said, “We should never define globalization within the framework of a specific geographical location as this can become a barrier.
“Indeed, philosophically, there should be some kind of consensus over the definition of globalization. Such consensus should never consider anything as an advantage over others. For instance, cultural, historical or geographical background should never be seen as an advantage for any country.“
Rahim Mashaei said that Iran is preparing for the global economy and it will do everything to ensure that the private sector will also be part this process.
In conclusion, he said, “Globalization will never wait for anyone. Globalization is inevitable and will never wait for anyone’s approval either. Simply put, this is the ultimate goal of economic justice. For the same reason, the Islamic Republic of Iran is all set for the globalized world in which global gains and losses will be shared by all.“
Other speakers of the conference were Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davoud Danesh Jafari, Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines Mohammad Nahavandian and Tehran University President Ayatollah Amid Zanjani.

The Majlis Sunday annulled a decision by the High Administrative Council on the merger or dissolution of 28 state councils.
Parliamentarians stated that the councils have remained in charge of responsibilities assigned to them by former Majlis ratification.
Lawmakers first approved the priority of the double urgency plan on the merger, dissolution and amending of the councils before reviewing the plan, MNA reported.
The parliament also voted for the inclusion of a single article to the plan proposed by head of the Majlis Research Center and Tehran MP, Ahmad Tavakkoli.
Under the single article, the government will be obliged to take legal measures within the next three months on amending the councils to improve their effectiveness.
In mid-August, the High Administrative Council approved merger of the councils including Money and Credit Council. It envisaged that the 28 councils should be merged into four new key and efficient bodies.
The decision was taken to make the government leaner, avert parallel and uncoordinated decisions, make state affairs smoother and increase efficiency, speed and accuracy.
Based on the decision, High Management and Economic Planning Council will be established following the merger of 11 councils; Economic Council, High Employment Council, High Council for Development of Non-Oil Exports, High Exports Council, Money and Credit Council, High Insurance Council, etc. A secretariat will also be set up for newly-established council.

A tripartite team made up of government, employers and workers representatives which is to decide on the minimum wage, is awaiting an announcement by the Statistics Organization on the unemployment rate for last autumn, said Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mohammad Jahromi.
Speaking on the sideline of the closing ceremony of the first course for training entrepreneurship teachers, he noted that Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has put the unemployment rate in the month of September 23-October 22, at 11.2 percent in 175 cities.
Although the minimum wage increased by 50 percent since the Ninth Government took office, he said, it is not sufficient to meet the workers needs, the Persian weekly Atieh reported.
Jahromi said that to meet the objectives of establishing enterprises with quick economic return, all entrepreneurs have to participate in a number of training courses. “About 173,000 persons were trained in entrepreneurship courses,“ he noted.
The minister stated that Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance will decide on the procedure for distributing Justice Share among workers.
Meanwhile in a meeting with entrepreneurship instructors held at the Labor Ministry, Jahromi said that the management system in Iran is weak, noting that the culture of identifying opportunities should be spread across the country.
He noted that the country has the capacity to create 1.5 million jobs per annum. “By establishing enterprises and improving working skills, we should generate 400,000 jobs annually,“ he said, adding all organizations should be actively involved in achieving this goal.
He said that lack of conformity between courses offered in universities and the country’s the job market is the main reason for the high unemployment among educated people.
“There’s a significant need for specialists in the job market,“ he noted.
Jahromi said earlier that unemployment rate dropped by 1.2 percent this fall compared to the figures for the same season last year.
The minister said that unemployment reached 10.4 percent during September 23-December 21 against 11.6 percent recorded last fall.
For the first time in a decade, Iran’s unemployment rate reached a single-digit figure this summer.
According to the Statistics Center, unemployment rate reached 9.9 percent after hovering above 10 percent for more than a decade.

Chairman of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce has predicted that the country’s non-oil exports to the war-shattered neighboring state would grow by 20 percent in the current Iranian year to March 2008.
In an interview with Iran Daily, Hossein Tizmaghz expected Iran’s exports to Iraq to reach two billion dollars by March from the current $1.1 billion.
The Iraqi government, in its 2008 Budget Law, has earmarked $42 billion for reconstruction of which seven billion dollars will be set aside for rebuilding the energy-rich state’s oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
“Given Iraq’s 2008 Budget Law, we are trying to bring about conditions for the involvement of Iranian companies in Iraq’s reconstruction,“ Tizmaghz underlined.
“Iraq needs to drill 250 oil wells this year. Drilling companies can earn a $60 million for each well not to mention majority of its current wells should also be renovated.“
Iranians are currently involved in the construction of an oil pipeline linking Abadan in the southwestern of the country to Iraq’s southeastern port city of Basra, he elaborated, adding that domestic companies are also building several power plants, residential complexes and universities in that country.
Iran is selling electricity to the energy-rich state whose oil reserves largely remained untapped when the former Iraqi dictator was in power, Tizmaghz concluded.

Export of honey to Persian Gulf states reached six million dollars last year.

About 55,000 beekeepers possessing 3.1 million beehives produce 35,000 tons of honey per year, said managing director of Iran’s Apiarists Union.
Speaking at a gathering of union members from the provinces late Saturday, Effat Raisi Sarhadi put the export of honey to Persian Gulf states at six million dollars in the year to March 2007, IRIB reported.
Given the potentials of the western Hamedan province and other regions for beekeeping and honey production, she urged the involvement of representatives of Apiarists Union in decision-making centers such as Natural Resources Organization, Department of Environment, banks and insurance companies.
Beekeeping is among the only industries which has not only had no harmful effect on nature but also the beneficial insect has helped in pollination.
The expert noted that core plans of the union in the year to March 2008 include establishment of cooperatives in cities where there are large number of beekeepers as well as setting up unions to coordinate between the cooperatives in each province.
According to her, cooperatives and unions, in cooperation with Agricultural Jihad Ministry’s Department for Livestock Affairs, will issue work permits for beekeepers.
She pointed out that the scheme to provide beekeepers social security insurance is being studied. Once ratified, the employers of workshops with less than five staff would be exempt from paying insurance premiums for workers.
The official underlined the need for cooperation among employment and investment working groups in the provinces for paying facilities to enterprises with quick economic returns for beekeeping projects.
Issues such as distribution of subsidized drugs, preventing the production of inferior honey, rendering social security insurance services to beekeepers and insuring the honeybees were discussed at the meeting. Raisi Sarhadi earlier said that sudden weather changes and decline in rainfall caused honey production to drop by 40 percent in the year to March 2007.

Construction of the port began in 2001.

The first privately-funded port was inaugurated near the southern Persian Gulf island of Kish, Hormuzgan province, managing director of Ports and Shipping Organization, Ali Taheri-Motlaq announced.
Talking to MNA, he said that Aftab Port, located 100 km from Bandar Lengeh, was fully funded by the private sector. The official noted that the port is operating on a trial basis and work is in progress on other phases of the port.
Being the closest point of the southern coast of Iran to the island, Aftab Port will mostly cater for passengers and goods transported to Kish island. It will have modern port facilities and a well-equipped passenger
terminal.
Taheri-Motlaq said earlier said that the port, the construction of which began in 2001 at a cost of 150 billion rials, will be officially inaugurated in May.
Private entrepreneurs financed the construction of the piers and embankments and have taken loans from Oil Stabilization Fund to purchase the required equipment.
With the Sea Bus lines going into operation by the end of the current year, passengers can cross from the port to the tourist island of Kish in less than half an hour. Moreover, once Aftab Port is completed, travel overland to Shiraz can be reduced to six hours. The port is also predicted to lead to the economic prosperity of Kish island.
Iran’s merchant fleet, with 182 ships ranks 19th in the world and ninth in Asia, has the capacity to portage 9.8 million tons of goods.

The Eighth International Exhibition of Furniture, Decoration and Interior Design will begin in Mashhad’s International Fairground today, announced managing director of Mashhad International Exhibitions Company, Mohammad Seyyedi, IRNA said.
He said that chambers of commerce from Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Kazakhstan will take part in the exhibition which will continue until January 11.
The Fourth International Exhibition of Machinery of Furniture and Interior Design, Chandeliers and Lighting will also be held concurrently in Mashhad.
Seyyedi stated that 180 domestic and foreign companies from Germany, France, UK, Italy, Belgium, Japan, China, South Korea, Switzerland, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey, UAE, Norway and Taiwan will take part in the five-day event.
The official noted that the exposition will be held in an area of 17,000 square meters.