AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Imam Khamenei met with a large group of Iranian entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and members of knowledge-based companies in the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah, January 30, 2023. During this meeting, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, stressed on the "rapid, continuous economic growth" as the current necessity for the country.
During the meeting, Imam Khamenei announced that the bright future of the country is in need of rapid and continuous economic growth. The Leader explained the reasons and requirements for economic growth while referring to the Seventh Development Plan which prioritizes economic growth along with justice. He emphasized, “economic growth is absolutely crucial in order to solve the tangible problems associated with people’s livelihood and the difficulties experienced in households.”
Imam Khamenei expressed his satisfaction with the spirit, optimism and tangible endeavors of those who are active in the fields of manufacturing and entrepreneurship. “As I have said many times before, due to the country’s God-given resources, its geographical, international, political position, and especially its human resources, the country’s talent and growth capacity are very high and exceptional in certain fields. For this reason, the future of the nation and the prospects of Iran's progress are much brighter than the current predictions," the Leader added.
Referring to this year’s slogan titled, “Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating”, the Leader stated, “the exhibition that I visited two days ago, showed that relatively good endeavors have been made in line with this year’s slogan. The official indicators of the first half of 1401 [2022 AD] mainly indicate movement and growth."
Imam Khamenei also addressed government officials present at the assembly while referring to points raised by some participants at the beginning of the meeting. “In order to follow up on these issues and resolve the complaints and expectations of those active in the economic field, form a committee under their supervision and solve their problems by continuously following up their case. By doing this, the country’s economy will also grow,” he stated.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution pointed out the direct relationship between economic growth and Iran’s position in the world. He further stated, “The advancement of a country’s position is largely related to its economic situation. When a country’s currency depreciates, its economic possibilities diminish. It becomes less credible in today’s world. We need to experience economic growth in order to maintain the country’s position in the world."
In another part of his speech, Imam Khamenei emphasized the need for rapid, continuous growth in the country. He also outlined the reasons why Iran fell behind in certain economic fields in the last decade. Certain managerial weaknesses, issues such as sanctions and the country’s focus on the nuclear issue, and as a result, the conditioning of the economy, were among some of the important reasons for Iran’s economic lag in the previous decade.
He underlined that compensating for this lag will require continuous endeavors and perpetual economic growth during a time span of at least ten years. “For this reason, we prioritized economic progress along with justice in the Seventh Development Plan,” he said.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution highlighted the need to solve the problems associated with people’s costs of living, the need to ensure the welfare and comfort of the people, the need to improve Iran’s position in the regional and world economy, and the need to create jobs for millions of graduates as some of the reasons why a rapid and continuous economic growth is required.
In another part of his speech, Imam Khamenei pointed out the requirements needed for the realization of economic growth. In this regard, he suggested that “increasing investment for production” and “increasing productivity” are two important pillars and a basic requirement for economic growth.
"Improvements in knowledge and technology" is another important requirement of economic growth that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution addressed, drawing the attention of universities and scientific-research centers towards it.
Imam Khamenei underlined that the achievements currently made in various areas are a result of the scientific movement that has begun about 15 years ago. He added that, “young scientists should cross the front lines of global science and prepare the grounds for this dream to come true, so that in 50 years time, if anyone decides to find out about the latest science, they will need to learn the Farsi language.”
"Increasing productivity" in all sectors, including how to consume natural resources, including water, was also marked as an essential point worthy of attention by the Leader of the Revolution while discussing the requirements for economic growth.
As another measure for the country’s economic growth, Imam Khamenei also suggested that “goods and services be made competitive” by increasing their quality and reducing the price of the final product. He added that this issue is very important in the field of exports.
At the conclusion of his speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated, “government officials are working as hard as they can. Of course, they need to take care of the directions and measures in a way that leads to favorable results.”
During this meeting, 14 individuals active in the fields of manufacturing, entrepreneurship, privately-owned knowledge-based companies in the fields of advanced medical equipment, dentistry, pharmacy, technical and engineering services, wood and cellulose industries, the stationery industry, agriculture, aquaculture and desalination industries, manufacturing solar cells and equipment for the renewable energy sector, the oil and gas industries, petrochemical products, information processing and artificial intelligence, online businesses, and the carpet and textiles industry, spent an hour and a half reporting on their achievements and their productions. They also voiced their complaints on problems in their areas of work and offered a number of suggestions.
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