Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Mine, Industries and Agriculture, Gholam-Hossein Shafei called for the establishment of a “commercial court” in accordance with Article 29 of the Law for the Continuous Improvement of Business Environment, in his meeting with Minister of Justice, Mostafa Pourmohamamdi on Sunday.
The aforementioned law, approved in 2012, aims at reducing the government’s role in the economy, providing guarantee for the investments and empowering the private sector. Article 29 of the law urges the judiciary and the government to take the necessary measures for regulating the commercial trial procedures and establishing commercial courts.
“In the absence of a commercial court, organizations affiliated to the ministry of justice suspend the activities of any business unit that violates the law,” said Shafei, noting that establishing specialized judicial and legislative institutions for this purpose would help maintain a safe business environment, which is essential for business activities and investments.
He suggested establishing a joint committee with representatives from the chamber of commerce, unions, the ministry of justice as well as other ministries to assign specialized institutions with the supervisory tasks currently carried out by the organizations affiliated to the justice ministry.
Gov’t Intervention
Meanwhile, a board member of Iran’s chamber of commerce, Kaveh Zargaran believes the persisting problems in the business environment mainly stem from government intervention in different sectors of the economy.
An advocate of free markets, he believes the market can be best regulated through the laws of supply and demand; noting government intervention has often led to improving one area of business while negatively impacting other sectors.
Acknowledging that the Rouhani administration (which assumed office in 2013) has partly succeeded in improving job security and facilitating interaction between the government and the private sector, he lamented that many problems in the business environment have not yet been resolved.
He also observed that while the chamber of commerce has been instrumental in preparing an appropriate atmosphere for conveying the private sectors’ suggestions to the government, “some business problems can be best solved by entrusting them to the private sector.”
