The budget allocated by the government to job creation in the upcoming year is initially financed through the savings from subsidy reforms, Ali Rabiee, minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare announced on Tuesday, adding that the government counts on small businesses as the main source of jobs.
IRNA quoted Rabiee as saying that the ministry is now ready to cooperate with the Chamber of Guilds to help trade unions create small businesses and innovate new brands.
The minister was speaking in a ceremony held in Tehran to sign an MoU between the labor ministry and the chamber.
The government annually spends about 2 trillion rials ($74 million at official exchange rate) on unemployment benefits for about 240,000 unemployed people, who Rabiee said would be referred to trade unions to be offered a job.
Officials believe the cost of job creation in business activities is about one tenth of that in industries.
Shahbaz Hassanpour, head of trade unions’ faction in the parliament, told reporters on Monday that about 3 billion rials ($850,000 at market exchange rate) is required to create one job in the industrial sector, while the amount stands between 300 and 500 million rials in business activities.
He hoped that the government would put the establishment of a bank for unions on its agenda adding that the move would spur unions to improve productivity.
He also said that the parliament pays special attention to development of domestic production and exports.
The trade unions’ fraction has been recently formed in the parliament in a bid to protect domestic unions, the MP said.
