29 Mar 2024
Tuesday 6 October 2015 - 00:37
Story Code : 183253

President: Govt priority is to increase production, cut unemployment rate

Tehran, Oct 5, IRNA President Hassan Rouhani says his government's priority is increase production and lower unemployment rate.

Speaking to Steve Inskeep of the US National Public Radio (NPR) on the sidelines of his visit to New York to attend the 70th UN General Assembly, Rouhani said Iran's revenues in the post-sanction era will be spent on the country's economic development.
He said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has created a new atmosphere in the region and the world. 'That's a very important message for the world. It means was a complicated issue on which discussions have been held for long years. A group of people believe that negotiations was no solution. We did see that the two sides were patient enough in following the talks for about two years; what matters now is that the talks bore fruits at last.'
He said in the weeks ahead, his government will table the draft of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan at Majlis for ratification. The Plan clarifies the country's priorities in the next five years and the volume of investments as well, said the president, adding that Iran's population is very young: 65 percent of Iranian population are below 35 years and many of them are still students. Annually a large number of students graduate, needing jobs. '... In the next two decades 1,300,000 students will graduate who should be povided with employment opportunities. To create necessary jobs and find a solution to the unemployment problem, we need an eight percent economic growth rate, which means we will need $150 billion investments annually based on economic estimates.'
For the same reason, many companies and economic directors come to Iran from Europe and Asia and study our programs and hold talks, said the president, adding that in order to attract in their capital to the country and in order for us to gain an eight percent economic growth for the youth, our priority will be to create employment opportunities. Our priority is to scale down unemployment rate.'
Elsewhere in his remarks, President Rouhani said insecurity in the region can have adverse consequences for all regional states. 'So security in Syria and/or Iraq is of high importance for us. We will follow any solution which will lead to stability and security so that the entire regional countries will be secure.'
On JCPOA, President Rouhani quoted Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying if nuclear agreement is fully implemented and the US abides by its promises in action, other issues might also be taken into consideration.
On Syria, he said Iran is in talks with regional countries as well as European Union. 'So we are not indifferent to the Syria issue. We are concerned both about Syria and the Syrian people. A number of people are killed or misplaced daily and you know even old and historical monuments are destroyed and ruined by terrorists. All of these are sources of concern. Iran will do within its power in connection with Syria security.

By IRNA
https://theiranproject.com/vdcbsfb8frhbw5p.4eur.html
Your Name
Your Email Address