Commerce chambers have witnessed the government’s occasional interferences in the process of electing the representatives of the private sector. With the passage of time, the private sector’s elections have become less democratic. There is evidence that the government’s interference in the upcoming round of elections [for members of commerce chambers] has been unusual, if not unprecedented.
These were stated by Mohsen Jalalpour, former president of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, in a write-up for the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad. A translation of the text follows:
If you look at the series of decisions made by the Supreme Council of Supervision of Chambers of Commerce over the past few months, you can see an exclusive and restrictive faction that can overshadow the election of competent representatives for chambers of commerce. These developments, whatever their intention and mission, have alarming consequences for both the economy and the longest-standing and largest organization of the private sector, i.e., ICCIMA.
At present, Iran’s economy is in a complicated and difficult situation, thanks to sanctions. For more than a decade now, the inflow of investments has stopped and the outflow of capital has increased. Erudite players of the private sector hold the key that could help the economy overpower existing problems; the decisions of this sector can affect the future of the economy. The government can compound the situation by discouraging the private sector, or decelerate or stop this process by injecting motivation and gaining the trust of the private sector.
If we put aside the myopic and monopolistic political analyses, the overtaking of private sector organizations will bring about no good for the government but would only discourage private sector players.
Chambers of commerce are the only honest observers of policymaking developments and economic trends in the country, despite all the criticisms leveled at them.
They can play a key role in helping make correct economic decisions and sending important signals of the private sector’s motivations and intentions to the policymaking system. The calculations and analyses of the chambers of commerce are vital, if decision-makers are willing to forge a win-win scenario for all economic players.
The point is that the representatives of this large organization are members of different manufacturing, commerce, industrial and mining sectors. Contrary to popular belief, the members of the chamber are not from a specific sector and do not have common interests. Therefore, if competent people constitute the chamber’s board, they can be vigilant watchers for the country’s business environment and help consolidate important economic elements such as competition and ownership.
With this explanation, the question is who deserves to take on the mantle of the private sector representative?
Main Mission
The main mission of the chamber is to monitor the business environment and not gain more privileges and support.
People who are supposed to represent the private sector must first make their position clear regarding the government, the state-controlled economy and issues such as subsidy and corruption.
The individual who intends to join the chambers of commerce must believe in defending economic freedom and competition, and have experience in running a private entity. They should have a national view.
They shouldn’t support protectionism and not have a background of partnering the government and politicians. Finally, it is very important that this individual should advocate improvement of relations with the world.
It is crucial that the leading members of the chambers have enough credibility in the society and the government to set the stage for a constructive dialogue. They should be the voice of the real private sector that does not seek to acquire wealth through privileges and rent-seeking practices. Therefore, the representative of the chamber should have the ability to distinguish sincere demands from rent-seeking demands.
Although the real representative of the private sector faction follows the interests of this sector, they are aware that some interests lead to national losses and eventually are to the disadvantage of the private sector. Therefore, they know that they should not prefer the interest of the trade union to national interests.
