President Assigns Priorities to Ministers

EghtesadOnline: President Hassan Rouhani has assigned missions and priorities to his ministers and has asked them to hand in their practical agendas to accomplish the same within two months to the Presidential Office.

News ID: ۷۷۹۳۳۱

20 September 2017

The Planning and Budget Organization of Iran has also been tasked with preparing a progress report on the performance of the ministries every six months.

The president’s edicts include general priorities as well specific assignments to each department, the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture reported.

According to Financial Tribune, general priorities issued to all ministers include:

1. Improving administrative integrity, financial transparency, universal access to information, equal opportunities for all and preservation of government’s assets as well as upholding the rule of law;

2. Merit-based recruitment and management of the risks of conflict of interests in decision-making, privatization deals and appointments;

3. Applying the Charter on Citizens’ Rights;

4. Considering environmental preservation when it comes to planning and policymaking;

5. Improving the involvement of people and the private sector;

6. Removal of monopolistic policies and creation of a competitive environment;

7. Prioritizing the establishment of electronic government;

8. Employing young people, women and citizens of other minorities in managerial positions.

On top of these general missions, the government has defined 19 priorities for Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, 18 priorities for Minister of Economy Masoud Karbasian, 22 for Roads Minister Abbas Akhoundi, 18 for Minister of Cooperatives Ali Rabiei, 23 for Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati, 26 for Minister of Industries Mohammad Shariatmadari and 16 for Telecoms Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.

> Priorities of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Ministry

1. Implementation of policies that energizes the labor market, insurance incentives, concentrating on regional capacities to create mass employment;

2. Overhauling the financial state of pension funds to boost their self-reliance and reduce dependence on public budget;

3. Improving the transparency of income, expenditure, investments and other activities of Social Security Organization;

4. Improving the wellbeing of workers, boosting their capabilities;

5. Streamlining the cooperatives sector by reducing the inefficiency of cooperative entities, their merger and establishment of regional and national cooperatives;

6. Improving the performance of health insurance, reducing costs and improving the role of insurances to boost public health;

7. Implementation of government plan devised to eliminate absolute poverty and social harms;

8. Implementation of a multi-layered social security system;

9. Directing particular attention to the disabled, orphans and children with irresponsible parents;

10. Privatization of public entities.

> Priorities of Roads and Urban Development Ministry

1. Overhauling investment in rail transportation industry;

2. Extroversion in transportation sector and making the most efficient use of the country’s geopolitical location and linkup with neighboring countries;

3. Railroad electrification;

4. Attracting the private sector and foreign investment to fund transportation infrastructures;

5. Pursuing the renovation of air fleet;

6. Encouraging private sector and foreign investment in development of freeways and highways;

7. Development of transit corridors with emphasis on rail and air transportation;

8. Emphasis on multimodal and combined transport;

9. Expansion of ports;

10. Stimulating the housing sector;

11. Overhauling investment in old neighborhoods;

12. Bolstering investment to facilitate the access of first buyers and young couples to home loans;

13. Rural housing investment;

14. Designing mechanisms to boost investment in the construction sector.

> Priorities of the Economy Ministry

1. Effective participation in overhauling the banking system and improving efficiency of public banks;

2. Clearing hurdles in the wayof foreign investment with emphasis on export-oriented foreign direct investment;

3. Improving the taxation system with emphasis on promoting justice;

4. Diligent pursuit of privatization according to Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution;

5. Fight against money laundering, promoting transparency in adopting international rules and removing barriers in the way of cooperation with global banking system;

6. Improving the management of privatized economic entities within the framework of “Justice Shares”;

7. Improving the management of public companies, business environment indices and empowering the private sector;

8. Carrying out a software revolution in the treasury system of the country to improve productivity and efficiency as well as collaboration between treasury and the Planning and Budget Organization;

9. Improving the regulatory system in different economic sectors based on non-governmental participation and competition.

> Priorities of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade

1. Planning to generate jobs in the manufacturing and services sectors;

2. Empowering the private sector, improving competition and investment;

3. Cooperation in carrying out reforms of rules and regulations about improving investment in the business environment;

4. Reducing monopoly in private and public sectors;

5. Lending time-bound, purposeful support to local production;

6. Removal of excessive rules and regulations to ease private sector’s business;

7. Implementation of industrial strategy based on export-oriented participation in global production chain;

8. Effective participation in plans aimed at saving energy;

9. Rule-based, predictable market regulation of basic goods;

10. Empowering commercial companies;

11. Overhauling the retail system and dealership with the help of knowledge-based activities;

12. Upgrading micro enterprises into small enterprises and development of SMEs;

13. Putting in efforts to help realize 15% growth in non-oil exports over four years of the government;

14. Promotion of trade, signing bilateral or multilateral deals to access export markets;

15. Improving the share of mining sector in the country’s gross domestic product;

16. Developing technology and innovation of economic entities, improving their competitiveness through the international cooperation of domestic companies with progressive foreign companies;

17. Encouraging the entry of local companies into the supply chain of major foreign firms in Iran;

18. Cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture to supply food needed for the country, considering the interests of people, and reducing pressure on people.

> Priorities of Agriculture Ministry

1. Directing serious attention toward preserving water reserves, economizing water consumption in agriculture, improving water productivity, cooperation with the Ministry of Energy in balancing groundwater conservation;

2. Promoting greenhouse farming;

3. Reducing the budgetary impacts of guaranteed purchases of agricultural products;

4. Putting food security and nutritional health on top of agenda in policymaking;

5. Introducing fundamental changes in transactions of agricultural products in order to minimize unnecessary middlemanship to farmers’ benefit;

6. Minimizing the growth of energy consumption in the agriculture sector by improving energy productivity;

7.  Employing proper farming systems and supporting farmers who employ these systems;

8. Sustainable production of strategic goods and improvement of production;

9. Economizing the size of agricultural units by improving farmers’ profit margin, streamlining raw materials, balancing agricultural products market and expanding the sector's value chain;

10. Conservation of forests, farms, pastures and soil. Employing effective measures to fight deforestation and dust storms;

11. Sustainability of farming in Iran based on real capacities of water and soil, improving water management, controlling soil erosion and achieving the government’s environmental objectives;

12. Reducing consumption of fertilizers in farming to improve public health and reduce treatment costs;

13. Carrying out feasibility studies of the "Farming Beyond Borders";

14. Promoting organic farming;

15. Cooperating with the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade to supply food needed by the country, considering people's welfare and reducing inflationary pressure on the public.