A memorandum of understanding was signed between Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, the Plan and Budget Organization and the National Development Fund of Iran on Saturday on the creation of all-embracing and sustainable employment through sectors under the jurisdiction of ICHHTO.
The agreement was inked by Ali Asghar Mounesan, the ICHHTO head, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, head of the PBO, and Morteza Shahidzadeh, head of the NDFI's board of directors.
Mounesan said during the signing ceremony that his organization is facing an onerous task but will hopefully cope with it drawing on the aid of PBO and NDFI.
"Although it's already been five months into the year and it is a tough job to do in the remaining time, we will spare no effort to achieve the target of 157,000 jobs and will set our sights further on 190,000 jobs," he was quoted as saying by CHTN.
He once more pointed out the advantages of ICHHTO's three sectors in generating employment such as requiring much smaller investment and shorter yielding time compared to other spheres.
"The majority of employment opportunities in our sector are within small businesses which are more sustainable and run slight risks of bankruptcy thanks to their small total cost," he added.
Wealth Fund's Commitment
Shahidzadeh reaffirmed the NDFI's commitment to support job-creating schemes including tourism plans.
"Based on article 18 of this year's budget law, we are tasked to financially support the tourism industry in accordance with the recognized potential of the sector and allocate larger funds if the capacity is expanded," he said. Nobakht later took the podium and provided further details on the government's employment objectives.
"In our plans for the current year [started March 21], we are committed to creating one million job opportunities and have sought the help of different organizations for this purpose," he said. To achieve the goal, 12 schemes have been devised, one of which was the agreement with ICHHTO, he added.
The official explained that some 650 trillion rials ($15.47 billion) have been envisioned to achieve the target of one million jobs which will be supplied out of development funds as well as the resources of the Targeted Subsidies Organization, the NDFI and the banking system.
"For cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism, 30 trillion rials ($714 million) have been earmarked to be paid by the government, the banking system and the NDFI," he said. Nobakht noted that the government's policy for this year is based on the notion that pumping money will not create jobs.
"Instead of paying money to the unemployed, we aim to spend the very budget on providing jobs for them," he said. Assuring that the pressure campaign against the country by the United States will not impede the efforts, Nobakht stressed that Iran will not need to rely on support from the West to fulfill its employment objectives.
The government is endeavoring to achieve a one-digit unemployment rate, according to the official.
