TEHRAN, Iran, June 3
Trend:
Merging of Iran's Ministry of Commerce with the current Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade wasn't a good idea, head of Khorasan Razavi Chamber of Commerce Mohammad Hossein Roshanak told Trend.
He spoke about the country's parliament bill to separate the two ministries.
Roshanak said the bill would obligate to separate the necessary responsibilities of the ministries as well.
"The initial merger was a strategic mistake," he said. "Since the merger, the country's trade sector didn't have a representative."
Roshanak then brought up an example.
"When we invited former minister Reza Rahmani last year to express appreciation for the exporters of the Khorasan Province, he only spoke about industry and mining, without mentioning export and trade, since the structure of the merger was wrong in the first place," Roshanak said.
"Iran's history was formed on trade and the Silk Road used to pass through the country, so how come trade and commerce departments are not governed by separate representatives?" he asked.
He also pointed out that some people in Iran's private sector are looking at the way ministries are run in South Korea, Japan, Europe and the US.
"Meanwhile, Iran's economy should be local, and based on agriculture, livestock farming and pilgrimage," said the official.