Iran president urges for privatizing car industry

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1

By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged for privatizing the country's auto making industry.

"The auto making industry in Iran must be fully privatized," ILNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying at a conference on the automotive industry in Tehran.

He said that the policy for privatizing auto making industry is aimed at creating competition which will lead to lower prices and enhancing quality, ILNA news agency reported.

"The way for the development of auto making industry has been opened in the country," he added.

He criticized the country's policy over the past decades on imposing restrictions against importing foreign cars and urged all officials involved in car making industry to make efforts to satisfy people.

"We cannot close the doors and make people buy home-made cars," Rouhani said.

He further touched upon the environmental issues and urged for observing environmental standards in the car industry.

President Rouhani called on international companies to cooperate with Iran to develop the country's auto making industry. He said Iran welcomes foreign carmakers to come, do research and produce.

The president also went on to thank people for showing high-turnout in the recent elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts and expressed his administration's readiness for cooperation with the new parliament.

Iranians voted on Friday in elections for the 290-seat parliament and the 88-seat Assembly of Experts, a powerful clerical body that appoints the country's supreme leader.