Younes Zhaileh, the President of the Tabriz Chamber of Commerce, on Wednesday, October 22, at a meeting attended by Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, the Executive Vice President, spoke about the difficult economic conditions of the country and their impact on production units in East Azerbaijan province. He emphasized that rising prices and declining economic growth in the industry and mining sectors have made securing financial resources and working capital for production units one of the main priorities of the economy.
The Necessity of Returning Banking Resources to the Economic Cycle
Zhaileh pointed out that there are about 440 trillion tomans in bank deposits in East Azerbaijan and around 300 trillion tomans in loans disbursed, calling for a proportional return of banking resources to the province's economic cycle. He stressed that the share of producers from loans should be in line with the industrial and economic capacities of the region. According to him, the issues faced by 875 companies in the province regarding currency commitments require reform of currency procedures and facilitation of order registration and currency allocation.
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Challenges Facing Industries and Producers
Zhaileh also referred to delays in payments to importers of essential goods, tax pressures, and gas shortages in industries, highlighting the need to expedite the implementation of the Aras water transfer project as another important issue in the province. Jamshid Barzegar, the President of the National Association of Builders and Vice President of the Tabriz Chamber of Commerce, criticized the raw sale of mineral resources and emphasized the necessity of developing processing industries. He also considered the resolution of unfinished construction projects and the strengthening of technical and engineering service exports as demands from the private sector.
Increasing Provincial Authority and Supporting Industries
Mahdi Amini, the President of the Industry, Mining and Trade House of East Azerbaijan, pointed out the limitations of provincial managers' authorities and called for greater delegation of authority to provincial managers and the provision of approved facilities. Amini emphasized that many of the problems faced by production units at the provincial level can be resolved, but referring decision-making to the center prolongs the processes.
Navid Navadeh Abadari, the President of the East Azerbaijan Steel Association, also mentioned the imbalance of electricity and gas, export restrictions, and tax pressures as problems for the steel industries and called for the development of a transparent mechanism for energy allocation to production units. He also emphasized that knowledge-based companies in the province have the capacity to participate in solving the country's problems, but they need effective support to play this role.
Development of Transportation Infrastructure
Ali Mehrabani, an investor in the road and urban development sector, considered the development of the highway network and transportation as essential for the economic growth of East Azerbaijan and called for government support for private sector investors and the acceleration of completing construction projects. The overall demands raised in this meeting focused on several main axes: reforming banking and currency policies, providing working capital for industries, reducing energy restrictions, revising tax pressures, and directing economic resources and revenues towards the development of infrastructure and strengthening production and employment in East Azerbaijan.
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