Cooperatives Ministry Launches Transparency Website

A comprehensive website to allow members of the public, media and oversight bodies to scrutinize economic exchanges within Social Security Investment Company (also known by its Persian acronym Shasta) and Civil Servants Pension Fund has been launched for the first time in Iran.
The two entities are subsidiaries of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare. 
“Transparency is not just an anti-corruption tool or a spotlight to shine on the dark rooms of fraud and misconduct; it also sets the stage for a bigger goal, i.e. initiating dialogue and using public wisdom in running the country,” Cooperatives Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari said in the ceremony held on Saturday to mark the inauguration of the website. 
According to Mohammad Rezvanifar, the managing director of  Shasta, the National Transparency Website of Purchases, Sales and Distribution features several other websites, namely Business Intelligence Website, Managing Documents Website (Sama), Production and Sales Website, Comprehensive Website of Performance Supervision and Assessment (Sina), Property Registration Website (Saman), Travel and Overseas Mission Website, Domestic Minutes Website, the Comprehensive Website of Legal Affairs and Contracts (Dadras), Website of Tamin Pharmaceutical Investment Company (TPICO) Purchases and Online Shop of Daroupakhsh Distribution Company (DPDC). 
“Traditional approaches would no longer help supervise the financial performance of large organizations such as the Civil Servants Pension Fund,” Akbar Eftekhari, the managing director of the fund, was quoted as saying by the Persian-language daily Iran.
“The new websites allow the ongoing monitoring of the fund and its 50 holdings and affiliate companies.”