Iranian Advertiser Chides ICT Guild Head

EghtesadOnline: Founder of Anetwork, an Internet advertising firm, has castigated the director of the ICT Guild Organization, Naser-Ali Sa’adat, for opposing the establishment of the Iranian Guild for Online Businesses.

News ID: ۷۷۷۲۱۱

24 June 2017

Sa’adat has criticized the move by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade to allow the founding of a special guild for online businesses, calling it "illegal."

"As per law, all online businesses must receive their permits only from the ICT Guild, he had said earlier this week, stressing that the creation of a new guild "will be against the law."

The advertiser Shayan Shalileh says the aim of creating the new guild is to expand digital businesses and give them a joint voice, the local internet business news agency WEBNA reported.

"Digital business has become popular in recent years, and the ICT Guild has done next to nothing to help such businesses. Now that the issue has been brought up, the ICT Guild is creating unnecessary hurdles in the way," Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.

Sa'adat's remarks came in the wake of the ministry’s decision to create the specialized guild for companies active in the online sector.

The High Commission for Supervision of Guilds — which is headed by Industries Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh — has been tasked with the establishment of the new body.

Businesses active in the sector have been asked to register for membership through the new guild, a process currently supervised by the ICT Guild.

Shalileh dismissed Sa'adat's claims, saying, when the ICT Guild was born in 2003, online businesses were not as widespread as they currently are, and the lack of sufficient knowledge by ICT Guild members was apparent.

Although, some in the field have criticized government oversight of the guild others believe if professionals in the sector head the guild it would be much better.

Director of the Iran Online Businesses Guild, Reza Olfatnasab, believes that instead of boycotting the new guild, stakholders should join it and draw on the opportunities the new organization has to  offer.