The Banking system can assume a more active role in the economic system only when it utilizes the latest technological advancements.

Bankers will be successful if they pay close attention to banking infrastructures, including those required for e-banking.
No longer are natural resources, which in the middle of the 20th century constituted 50 percent of the gross domestic product of some countries, viewed as a determining factor in economic terms. In this age, development of telecommunications and information superhighways is the main criterion for advancement.
Deputy economy minister for banking, insurance and governmental companies, Hamid Pour-Mohammadi told IRNA, “Success of countries in the economic domain depends on being equipped with information technology and utilizing it.“
Banking also can assume a more active role in the economic system only when it utilizes the latest technological advancements.
The good omen of this is an agreement between the ministries of economy and communications and information technology in 2006-7 under which a working group was set up to ensure that the targets of electronic banking are achieved.
“Eight committees have been established so far. The first pertained to telecommunications network. The number of fast network lines reached 14,000 in 2007-8 compared to 85 in 2006-7. Banking system still needs 2,000 more network lines,“ Pour-Mohammadi pointed out.
The next step was procuring infrastructure for centralized banking. While all the declared objectives have been achieved in the private banking sector, in the government sector they have materialized only for two banks. Toward the end of 2007-8, the other eight governmental banks became obliged to catch up with the new changes based on a timeframe.
Another positive move was that the number Automated Teller Machines (ATM) reached 10,000 in 2007-8 from 6,000 in 2006-7. Experts believe that this year (started March 20) the number of ATMs should reach 20,000.
It seems that a separate entity must be established to carefully monitor the banking system and ensure the materialization of its objectives.
Meanwhile, Credit Rating Institute has started its activities in a limited manner in a few banks. A comprehensive databank on clients should be compiled if the institute is to be successful. This way the credibility of clients could be evaluated more authentically. The bright side is that Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Economy Ministry supervise the institute, which can provide services to both private and governmental banks.
“A databank was established about a few weeks ago and it is expected to expand. The databank must also help meet the needs of banking administrators and planners. One thing expected from the databank is recording the amount of facilities granted to the agricultural sector. All in all, each bank should have its own separate databank while all banks should be connected to each other via a network system,“ says Pour-Mohammadi, adding that in the near future, shares of banks will be sold to the public.

Indian, Chinese and European oil companies want to participate in the development of Azadegan oilfield, said a senior Oil Ministry official.
Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi said that Iran also has alternative choices among Indian, Chinese and Turkish companies to undertake Phase 12 of South Pars gas field development project, adding that negotiations with two Indian companies are being pursued and one or two foreign oil companies would be selected soon.
Phase 12 is one of the largest phases of South Pars project and Petro Pars, which is in charge of its development, will probably choose its partner from among Indian, Chinese and Turkish companies, he added, according to Press TV.
Noqrehkar Shirazi pointed out that Iran is responsible for developing 90 percent of South Pars field and the remaining 10 percent has been entrusted to Japan’s Inpex Company, while many companies have expressed interest in cooperating with Iran in the project.
The official stated that Iran was not interested in foreign participation in some aspects of Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields’ development projects and was planning to go it alone. Azadegan is Iran’s largest onshore oilfield and provides the best choice for foreign investment. He concluded that Iran has also been in talks on bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Russian oil giant Gazprom.

Under Article 44 of the Constitution, which seeks large scale privatization, the government is obliged to pave way for the cooperative sector to attain a 25-percent share of the national economy by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-2015), observed Cooperative Minister Mohammad Abbassi.
He told MNA that cooperation of economic sectors and spreading the culture of cooperative in society is prerequisite for achieving the objective.
Increasing the share of cooperatives in the economy will have a number of advantages, economic growth will increase through greater contribution of the people to the cooperative sector, he said.
Once the plans go into effect, share of the cooperative sector in the national economy will improve.
Formation of cooperatives is one of the most important means of materializing social justice given that the government attaches great importance to the underprivileged stratum of the society.

Since the northern provinces are home to over 1.8 million hectares of valuable Caspian forests and about 1,000 hectares of farmlands, a comprehensive plan should be complied to counter drought.

According to officials, drought is posing a threat to various parts of the country such as the northern regions. Professors and experts underline the need to conduct comprehensive studies on the impacts of drought since this is a prerequisite for sound management of water and soil resources, IRNA reported.
Lack of comprehensive data and improper management have led unchecked exploitation of water and soil reserves and aggravated losses.
Although, based on statistics, the potential for tapping domestic water resources is about 400 billion cubic meters per year, about 70 percent of this amount is not managed properly.
A 33-percent decline in precipitation in the north, the lack of a plan to control and manage surface waters as well as water wastage have driven the northern regions to a crisis. The average rainfall in the northern regions used to be 1,200 millimeters per year.
Since the northern provinces are home to over 1.8 million hectares of valuable Caspian forests, about 1,000 hectares of farmlands and produce a significant percentage of agro, horticultural and livestock products, a comprehensive plan should be complied to counter drought.
A professor at Agricultural Faculty of Islamic Azad University’s Chalous Branch described the declining water reserves and mismanagement as the two main problems which should be resolved.
Global warming and climatic changes have inflicted serious damages, underlined Mojtaba Neshaei-Moqaddam.
According to him, climatic changes play a major role in the destruction of northern forests.
Also, destruction of forests has led to extensive flooding in the area, the official added.
Unfortunately, surface waters are not managed well and a large portion of it is wasted each year, he regretted.
As per statistics, Mazandaran province’s water potentials stand at 6.6 million cubic meters, of which only 1.9 million cubic meters are tapped, the university professor pointed out.
Neshaei-Moqaddam said the number of dams in the area is insufficient, adding that the water shortage should be overcome by constructing earth-filled dams for storing water.
There are about 150 dams with a total storage capacity of 100 billion cubic meters in the country, he said, underlining that Mazandaran province has 660 floodgates.
Also, Hamidreza Sadeqi, a watershed professor at Tarbiat Modarres (instructors’ training) University, said that annual precipitation in Iran is one-third of the global standard.
In related news, head of Noshahr Meteorological Department said that precipitation in the city declined by 297.8 millimeters in the year to March 19. This is unprecedented in the past 20 years, Ali Fallah claimed.
The official pointed out that Noshahr precipitation rate stood at 2.6 millimeters during March 20-April 19, indicating a 96-percent decline against the figure for the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, head of Noshahr Agricultural Jihad Department Esmail Shahsavari called for the formation of drought crisis taskforce in this northern city in an attempt to prevent water shortage in the agro sector.
Despite the water shortage in the region, about 200 million cubic meters of water from local rivers, including Gardgel, Mashalak, Chalous and Kourkoursar, flow into the Caspian Sea, said Esmael Nataj who is in charge of Noshahr-Chalous Water Supply Office.
He urged the construction of dams to reduce wastage of rivers’ resources. The Caspian province of Mazandaran has about 460,000 hectares of farmlands.

Head of Civil Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CAO) Hossein Khanlari has said that the organization has not yet received any official notification about the elimination of jet fuel subsidy.
The government has already approved the plan to eliminate jet fuel subsidy.
Speaking to Fars news agency, he said the organization has also not received any other notification vis-ˆ-vis the amount of jet fuel subsidies allocated for this year, adding that the organization will follow the rules as it can only devise its policies and flight schedules for the airline industry on the basis of official notifications and directives.
According to Khanlari, the organization has already devised plans to increase the number of flights this year, particularly during the peak season of summer.
Airlines have been informed of this and asked to submit their national and international flight schedules. They have been told that their demands will be met accordingly, he said.
Khanlari said earlier that six passenger planes had joined the country’s civil aviation fleet.

Iran’s Consul General Saeed Kharrazi said in Lahore on Friday that Iran and Pakistan plan to increase trade by one billion dollars.
Addressing members of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI), he hoped that Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline would soon be undertaken. “Given the cordial relations, the proposed gas pipeline project would further cement ties between the two countries,“ he said, according to Fars news agency.
“We are also making efforts to promote interaction between the business communities of Iran and Pakistan to expand trade,“ he said.
The consul general said that an ’Information Center’ has been set up in Lahore to provide necessary information to Pakistani business community, adding that steps were also being taken to make data available to SCCI to promote trade and commerce.
The Iranian diplomat also paid tribute to great poet and philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal, saying that it’s his privilege to visit the city of Iqbal.
In a welcome speech, SCCI President Khurram Anwar Khawaja said that he was satisfied to note that both Iran and Pakistan were eager to expand cooperation in various fields and benefit from each other’s expertise to make progress.

Director of Iran’s New Energies Organization has announced that documents have been signed to guarantee the purchase of electricity generated from wind by the private sector.
Speaking to Fars news agency, Souf Armodeli said the permit was issued by Iran Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Management Co. (Tavanir), adding that the company aims to purchase electricity from private firms involved in generating wind power.
According to him, Tavanir has already received applications from private enterprises to generate 3,700 megawatts of electricity. Electricity purchased from these companies will be priced at 620 rials per kilowatt, he added.
Wind power is produced in large scale wind farms connected to electrical grids, as well as in individual turbines for providing electricity to isolated locations in Iran.
Wind energy is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The intermittency of wind seldom creates problems in supplying a low proportion of total demand, but presents extra costs when wind is used to meet higher demand.

Managing director of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) has said that increasing the number of vessels and transportation of export cargo are among the company’s top priorities in the year to March 2009.
A giant container ship, which was ordered from South Korea three years ago, is to join the shipping fleet within two weeks, disclosed Mohammad-Hossein Dajmar, according to ISNA.
The proposed vessel has the capacity of carrying 6,500 containers, he added.
About 18 ships ordered from foreign and domestic companies would be delivered in the year to March 2009, the official pointed out.
Despite the rise in fuel prices, sea transportation tariffs have been reduced, he said. Iran Shipping Company tariffs declined by 50 percent on average in the past two months, Dajmar underlined.
IRISL is the main administrator of the national marine transport sector. Established 40 years ago, it has 115 vessels with the total cargo capacity of 3.7 million tons.