The Supreme Council of Economic Coordination convened on Saturday chaired by President Hassan Rouhani and discussed incentives for investors and the private sector. At the session in which heads of the other two branches–Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani–took part, the council approved new incentives for the private sector to invest in unfinished projects, president.ir reported. The council changed some regulations so that pending projects belonging to the government and state can be transferred to private owners. Among the incentives are tax exemption for at least 10 years after completion of the projects and commencement of operation. The thorny issue of costly unfinished projects has taken a high toll with some of the projects turning into white elephants. Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said last year that the country has 1,049 unfinished projects at the national level and 2,886 projects at the provincial level. “For these projects to become operational, at least 5,080 trillion rials ($127 billion) are needed at the national level and 490 trillion rials ($12.25 billion) at the provincial level,” it said.
