http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2638/html/economy.htm
Expats Urged to Participate In Privatization Drive TEHRAN, Aug. 16--If Iranian expatriates are encouraged to buy shares of state companies, the eight-percent economic growth rate will certainly materialize, said an economic expert here on Wednesday. Mahmoud Jamsaz told ISNA that the 'genuine' private sector cannot afford to purchase shares of state companies, stressing that the huge capital held by Iranian expatriates needs to be attracted and injected into the privatization drive. "There are different estimates of the expatriates' total capital, but what is clear is that it is so huge that it will be enough to buy shares of all state companies," he said, adding, however, that greater economic security must be established and economic rules have to become more transparent in order to attract expatriates' investments. The official said only if 10 percent of this capital arrives, things will change drastically in Iran. "With only 10 percent of the expatriates' capital, we will be able to create more jobs, increase supply, reduce prices and tame inflation," he said, adding that the government could make use of successful privatization patterns exercised by some other counties in a bid to draw the expatriates' attention to the domestic markets. Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davood Danesh-Jafari said earlier this month that the government's role in the national economy will decline significantly once the recent directive by the leader of the Islamic Revolution to give the privatization drive a new lease on life is fully implemented. He said the Ninth Government is planning to reduce its present 65-percent share in economic activities down to 20 percent under the general policies of Article 44 of the Constitution, which allows large-scale privatizations. He further noted that the private sector's share remains at only 30 percent as the cooperatives sector has a share of 3-5 percent in the national economy. According to the leader's directive, some 80 percent shares of state companies should be transferred to private ownership. -- www.marxmail.org
