The cooperative sector has created more than 1.5 million job opportunities across the country, the deputy minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare, Hamid Kalantari, said on Thursday. “There are currently more than 100,000 cooperatives and 680 unions active in different sectors across the country,” he was quoted by IRNA as saying. “Since the cooperatives are regularly inspected by inspectors from ministry of cooperatives, labor and social welfare, they are less likely to be engaged in corrupt and rent-seeking practices,” he further said, noting that the cooperatives’ function is not yet fully recognized in Iran. He went on to say that the expansion of the cooperative sector can lead to the development of the country’s economy, adding: “Cooperatives’ economic activities can be stretched to include 93% of economic activities. There are currently 17,000 industrial cooperatives as well as 2,000 mineral cooperatives active in different parts of the country.”
