Tehran, Iran, Oct.23
Trend:
Unfortunately, Iran's approach is against international connectivity, and the country can achieve its goals by relying on domestic resources, an Iranian advisor for finance and investment Payman Molavi told Trend.
"If we look closely, we will find that between the years of 1962 and 1969, during Mr. Alikhani’s ministry, Iran's economy was in a flourishing state and was actually in a much interconnected relation to the international economy, especially in the industrial areas and was beginning to export products to the world,” he said.
Molavi added that since 1972, with an increase in the oil revenues, somehow Iran’s economy lost its connection to the international economy.
"And after the revolution, it faced the sanctions that effectively put Iran's economy on the brink of the global economy, although this situation was improved during Hashemi’s and Khatami’s governments,” he said.
“We don’t see a plan to expand international economic relations in Iran,” he said. "Unfortunately, there is no major strategy or plan to communicate and cooperate with the international community."
"There are no steps taken towards being included in international organizations or regional and global treaties. For example, we can, in addition to the ECO, form an economic pact with Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan, which has large population,” he proposed.
Molavi went on to say that this problem, of course, is not specific to Iran and it is also seen in other countries in the region.
"The Gulf Cooperation Council only includes countries in the Persian Gulf or Turkey’s policies were west-oriented, although it has taken steps towards Russia and China recently,” he said.
Referring to the international relationship with economic growth, Molavi said that unfortunately, there is no agenda for international cooperation in Iran, however the Islamic Republic may be able to solve problems by relying on its own resources.
"But one must know that without international cooperation and without macroeconomic markets, economic growth would be limited. Several reports also emphasize and suggest that the requirements for a growth of 8 percent in the economy are interacting with the global markets from the United States and Russia to Brazil and China," he noted.
"In our country, most economic approaches are import-oriented rather than export-oriented, and the reason for this - weakness of the country's industrial sector, thanks to sanctions, and lack of international exchange and it can easily be deduced from the business environment of the country," he said.
He then spoke about Iran's GDP.
Iran's gross GDP is about $425 billion, and the country's population is 80 million, so if we take into account the efficiency of a moderate EU country like Spain, we should've had the GDP at nearly $1200 billion, said Molavi.
"The reason for that is our lack of international connections," he said.