NOURNEWS - The following is the full text of the speech delivered on January 30, 2022, by Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with a number of industrialists and manufacturers.
In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his pure household, and may God curse all their enemies
You are very welcome, dear brothers and dear sisters. I wish to ask the honorable officials who are present at the meeting – Mr. Mohammad Mokhber, the honorable First Deputy of President, the ministers and the other deputies of the esteemed President – to pay attention to the points raised by the friends at the meeting: the points raised by the honorable brothers and the honorable sister who delivered a speech here.
The duties of the administration towards businesspersons
One of the most important benefits of this meetings is that you honorable officials will be able to directly listen to businesspersons speaking about their problems and the obstacles in their way. According to what I understood from the statements made here, two main tasks fall on officials, briefly speaking. I ask Mr. Mokhber and the other friends to pay attention to this.
One is to lay out a strategic plan for the entire industry of the country – in particular, for certain industries – and another is to establish a central management and provide guidance. Of course, everyone knows my opinion in this regard: I do not agree with the idea that executive organizations should get involved in economic activities, but I am alright with their guidance, supervision and assistance. The latter should certainly be done. Therefore, a strategic plan and a comprehensive management are necessary things to do. The friends of my office who are present here should write down the points addressed to me and my office so that we will pursue them later on, God willing.
The reasons behind economic setbacks in recent years
Well, in Aban of 1398, we had a similar meeting to this one in this place. In recent weeks, some of the friends who had spoken at that meeting and who had delivered a report on their activities wrote a letter to me, describing both their achievements and setbacks in the past two years. In the two years that have passed from that meeting, the groups present at that meeting have had good achievements and they have had setbacks as well. Some of these setbacks stem from lack of cooperation on the part of executive organizations. In other words, they did not provide the help that they should have and consequently, businesspersons could not do what they had planned and were able to do. And some other setbacks originate from other factors such as smuggling and the like. Of course, the sanctions too exerted noteworthy effects on sequestering the achievements.
America’s official economic war against Iran since 2011
Well, I will begin my statements by reiterating that the economy of our country in the year 1390 was faced with a very important and big war. In other words, we were engaged in an economic war. It was primarily the US government and some of its cohorts in Europe and other parts of the world that stood against us. They officially began a war against the Islamic Republic and they announced it openly as well. Of course, since the year 1397, this confrontation and war has intensified on the part of the enemy. Their purpose of waging this war was to destroy the economy of Iran. This was their goal.
Of course, destroying the economy was only a preliminary step to pitting the people against the Islamic Republic and to pursuing their vicious political goals. This was the enemy’s goal. Their calculations were, however, wrong. I have been told that the Americans had set a specific date for this destruction: six months. They used to think that they would be able to destroy the economy of Iran in the course of six months. Of course, I have not researched this myself, but I have been told that this was the case. The enemy failed.
Ten years have passed now and in these ten years, this war has increased in intensity on a daily basis, but the trench of industrial production and the economy of the country is thankfully firm. It was you who formed the army against the enemy. The officers in the Sacred Defense against the enemy were our competent entrepreneurs and economic managers. The soldiers in that Sacred Defense were our sincere and honest laborers. All economic activists have a share in the honor of preserving the economy of the country. Of course, some harm has been inflicted and later on, I will briefly explain this.
In my opinion, if during those years, executive officials had worked harder and cooperated more, we would have achieved more and we would surely be in a better condition today and some of the damages that we suffered in these years would not have occurred if government and executive officials had helped.
Businesspersons should inform the people of their achievements
I wish to stress that it will be good for the people to hear the achievements that you mentioned here. One of the things that the enemy does is to use psychological warfare. As well as this economic and this real war, the enemy engages in psychological warfare in all areas including the economic area. Therefore, it will be good for the people to know about your achievements. The national media should have the industrialists themselves speak about their achievements. Of course, certain programs are broadcast in which executive officials speak about these achievements, but it will be better to ask the industrialists and businesspersons themselves to speak about these facts so that the people will be informed of them.
The important factors in the poor figures regarding the macro-economy of the country
I spoke about the damages incurred. The economic statistics of the 1390s – the macro-economy of the country – are not really and truly satisfactory. The figures regarding gross national production, the formation of capital in the country, inflation and cash flow are not satisfactory. Also, the figures related to the supply of machinery, and property are not satisfactory at all. These are facts. If officials had managed to handle things in a better way in order to improve these figures, the economy of the country would definitely be in a much better condition today.
Well, the impact of these realities have shown themselves in the lives of the people. When we express our concern about the people’s livelihood condition, these are the reasons. The sanctions are not the only reason for these problems. Of course, they have certainly been influential, but they are not the only reason. An important part of these problems stems from some wrong decisions, dodging of responsibility and the like. Things could have been different.
The existence of many domestic capacities for economic growth
According to all experts - both domestic and foreign economic experts - our country has great economic potential. This means that today we can have a much better condition in terms of the economy. These resources are there, we have a lot of assets and resources, there are many capacities that competent, hard-working and compassionate managers should exploit. There are also successful examples in the economy. You, the friends who spoke here, are the examples of success. They used the existing capacities of the country. So, we thankfully have successful examples.
I could equally mention the production centers which did not wait for the sanctions to be removed. One of the points which could have been raised in your speeches – although, the friends who spoke did not mention it, but this is the truth – is that none of these production centers waited for the sanctions to be removed in order to make progress. They did not wait for such and such negotiations to achieve a certain result. No, they did their job, worked hard and achieved good results.
I have always said that you should not make the economy and the economic activities of the country conditional on such and such an issue that is not in our control. We should rather exploit our own determination in order to meet our needs and we thankfully have many good capacities in this regard.
Recommendations on improving the economy
Well, I have offered many recommendations to officials and I do not wish to repeat them. I always make the most of expert opinions. I place a high value on experts and specialists in different areas – including in the economic area. I listen to what experts say and I share it with the people and with the officials of the country.
For instance, there are recommendations on improving the business environment, eliminating the unnecessary rules and regulations, facilitating the process to obtain permits, permits to create employment, creating a consolidated window for obtaining a permit – of course, this has been done to some extent, but not to the level required - stabilizing the laws and making the economy of the country predictable.
Businesspersons should be able to calculate and to predict. There are also suggestions on ensuring the safety of investment and highlighting the encouraging policies on productive activities. I have frequently stressed the issue of making the production chain of the country knowledge-based, of combating corruption, of supporting domestic industries and preventing smuggling in a firm manner. This is one of the necessary tasks that I have always stressed to officials. You must take this seriously.
Combating smuggling should be done in a decisive and ruthless manner. If you show certain considerations, thinking that such and such smuggled products are useful and that we could use them somewhere, this should not be the case. I have said that smuggled luxury products should be thrown in the shredder. You should shred them to pieces. Otherwise, if you bring them to the market in another way, it is the same story because domestic industry will be harmed. There are also recommendations on creating new international markets for our own products, attending to budget deficiency and exerting financial discipline on the administration. These are the recommendations that I have always repeated.
Well, some of these recommendations have been acted on, with positive results, and some have not received attention. The issue of eliminating unnecessary rules has not received due attention. I have been given figures showing that between 1397 and 1400, 1,500 directives were issued only in the area of customs. Well, which ones should they act on? Which one should they read? These things should seriously be confronted.
The jihad of industrial production
Now, I wish to speak about industrial production. In recent years, I placed great emphasis on industrial production as I believe that it is really effective, as you know all too well. I too want to speak briefly about this. Primarily, what I want to say is that industrial production is a jihad: “I testify that you fulfilled your duty to do jihad in the way of God.” We read this prayer, addressing the Imams (greetings be upon them), and we keep speaking about jihad. Today, industrial production is jihad. Why? This is because when defining production, I have always said that jihad is an endeavor that focuses on the enemy’s attack and movements. It should address the enemy. Not every effort is jihad. Only an effort that concentrates on the enemy’s attack is a jihadi act.
The enemies are trying to bring the industrial production system of the country to its knees
Well, is not the enmity of the enemy against the economy of the country clear enough? The enemy attacked from two sides in order to bring the economy of the country to its knees: one was oil and gas which are the most important sources of currency in the country and another was the area of transactions. In other words, it wanted the country to have no income from the area of oil and gas, which are important sources of currency, and also it wanted to limit, obstruct and impose sanctions on our transactions with the world, thus making production hit rock bottom and be completely annihilated. This is what it means. When you have no currency and no foreign customers, production becomes meaningless. This was their goal. Well, against this goal and this clear enmity, anyone who takes action has done jihad. You industrial producers are taking action in this area. This is jihad. Therefore, pay attention that what you are doing is of such a nature. If your intentions are to serve the country and if your services to the people are for the sake of God, this is the greatest act of worship.
The humiliating defeat that the US suffered in its maximum pressure policy
Of course, the enemy did not manage to conquer the trench of industrial production. He failed to do so. Of course, the people have experienced livelihood problems and have received blows, but the enemy failed to break the trench of production over these years. You are showing examples of this in practice. Fortunately, today, the same enemy is acknowledging that his maximum pressure policy has led to the US’s humiliating defeat. These are the words used by the US Department of State. A few days ago, the spokesman of the US Department of State announced this. He said that the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran led to America’s humiliating defeat. Thankfully, this is what they themselves said. This was because of the effort that was thankfully made in the country. In fact, this defeat was imposed on the enemy at the hands of you entrepreneurs and laborers.
The results of a surge in production in the country
One point is that the slogan of last year was “Surge in Production”. A surge in production is significant because if we can truly achieve it, all important economic indices in the country will change. Such is the importance of production. As a result of this, there will be stable employment in the country, unemployment rates will be reduced, exports will flourish, the country will find sources of currency and the rate of inflation will decrease. Besides, there will be economic independence in the country and this brings about national dignity - countries are proud of their national economic capabilities. It ensures national dignity and security, boosts national self-confidence and protects the country's economy from the shocks imposed from outside or from within, all of which, of course, have been taken into account and stated in the policy on the economy of resistance.
The improvement of quality and technology is an outcome of supporting domestic production
One point in this regard is about the issue of quality. When we stress production, we are only thinking of mass production. Quality is the main issue. The quality of production must be considered as a principle. This is unnegotiable. If you see that domestic production is being supported – be that practical support like tariff supports, bank facilities and the like or promotional support like the emphases that I and other officials placed on supporting domestic production and which have proved to be effective- this should lead to an improvement in quality as well as an improvement in technology. The issue of technology is also very important, but for now I am focusing on the issue of quality, which should lead to improving the quality of products.
Lack of attention to quality in certain domestic products
Unfortunately, in some domestic products, we see that quality is not taken into account. This is really bad. All this support has been given to the car industry in the country over the years, but the quality of the cars produced is not good. The people are dissatisfied, and rightly so. The people are right. That is, the people's protest is justified. This industry has not been able to satisfy customers. You need to be able to satisfy the customer.
Therefore, the issue of quality is of utmost importance. Now, if this support is not used to improve quality and worse, if it is abused to raise the price, this is another problem. If they raise the price, if quality does not improve and if governmental, promotional, banking and other forms of support and if preventing foreign competitors from entering the arena leads to the prices going up, this is a very bad thing. I am also upset with the friends who are in charge of household goods and appliances. I supported them and mentioned their names, but I heard some items have doubled in price. Why? Support should not be dealt with in this way. So, if we do not improve quality, how can we expect to conquer foreign markets? Quality is very effective. This is one point.
The necessity to pay attention to employment-generating production
Another point about production is that the country must pay special attention to employment-generating production. Some of the country's products are fundamental and important products and are a vital need of the country such as the oil and steel industries and the like, but they do not have the same job creation as some other industries. Of course, attention to these core industries is necessary, but neglect of employment-generating industries is a big problem. This should not happen.
Government organizations and banks should do something to make production be at the service of creating employment in the true sense of the word because employment is a vital issue for the country. And these important industries, in and of themselves, can create a chain of job-creating and downstream industries that are often also job-creating.
For example, we can mention the extensive downstream industries that are affiliated with the oil industry, an example of which is petrochemical refineries. The law regarding this was ratified by the Majlis in the year 1398 and was also communicated to the administration at the time, but it was not unfortunately pursued, but it must be pursued. These industries can bring both the capital of the people into the field of employment and are employment-generating themselves. Examples of these are also found in industries such as the steel industry and so on. Banking facilities should move in the direction of paying more attention to job-creating industries.
The necessity to make the big industries of the country knowledge-based
Another point is that we have relied on knowledge-based industries over the years. We have kept speaking about and supporting them. Well, it has been good as several thousand knowledge-based industries and knowledge-based enterprises have been created, and good efforts have been made in this field. Small and medium production centers have been created. What has been neglected is that we have failed to make our big industries knowledge-based. The oil industry should become knowledge-based. We are experiencing technological backwardness in the oil industry. Some countries in the region are far ahead of us in terms of the type of oil extraction and the technology used in such places. We are lagging behind in this regard.
Benefitting from domestic capacities for the progress of industries
So, who should compensate for this backwardness? Who can we get help from? Must a foreign company come and bring us technology? No, I do not believe in it. Well, you see how foreign companies act: they do not come or when they come, they do not act in a trustworthy way, they give up in the middle of the way with a pretext and take advantage of the situation.
Of course, I am not against foreign companies in general, but we have to choose. I believe that competent domestic organizations can do that for us. This is my opinion. In my opinion, if, for example, the oil industry officials ask youth to help, get their opinions and share their needs with our educated, talented and interested youth, they can certainly solve many problems. We have seen examples of it up close.
For example, a group of young people came to me and said that they can do such and such a thing in the field of oil. I put them in contact with the Ministry of Oil – this happened one, two years before coronavirus - and the officials of the Ministry of Oil expressed their gratitude, saying that those youth managed to accomplish big feats for them. We should not think that the upgrading of technology in our various industries, such as the oil industry and the like, should only be done by foreign companies. No, ask young scientists to work and encourage them with your support. You will see that they will be up to the task and they will produce the best results for you. In my opinion, this is the case.
Youth’s brilliant performance in various scientific arenas
In whichever area youth were trusted and demanded to do something, they shone brightly in the true sense of the word. This holds true in all areas ranging from the manufacture of the coronavirus vaccine to producing very accurate missiles. As for the coronavirus vaccine, they produced the best. And in the case of accurate missiles, they also produced the most accurate ones.
In the area of nanotechnology, they were ranked among the best. In the area of stem cells too, the day when there were very few countries working in this field, our youth managed to be among the top scientists in this important science and very important biotechnology. Generally speaking, they managed to accomplish great feats in the area of biotechnology. Our youth can do work. In my opinion, they can do so. We must appreciate the value of these talents and ask them to work. Why should they not be able to pull off important work in the area of oil extraction? Why not? They can definitely do so. They can do work if they are asked to do so and if they are helped and supported.
The necessity to direct banking credits towards production
Another point that I raised many times before as well, but that I wish to reiterate as the honorable executive officials are present here is that you should direct bank credits towards production. Ask banks for this and oblige them to cooperate. The Central Bank can be very active in this area. The gap between the growth of liquidity in the country and the growth of our gross national product is an astronomical one. Why? Why should credits be used in such a way that it leads to a large amount of liquidity and has no effect on the growth of the country's production? This situation must change.
This is the duty of the honorable executive officials. Mr. Mokhber, who is thankfully a competent individual, and other economic officials of the country are expected to pursue this task. Interaction with banks should be confined to the direction of credits towards production. The supervision of the Central Bank can be very effective in this regard. This is a key issue. This was another point.
The necessity to achieve a technologically-advanced agriculture
Another point is about agriculture. Well, the friends at the meeting mentioned greenhouse cultivation, and the pictures they showed were interesting pictures. What was said was good. Of course, these greenhouse crops and the like are also important, but the country cannot be managed with greenhouse cultivation alone. We have soil, we have land, we have water. The way to have optimal consumption must be found. Soil destruction must be prevented. Water wastage should be avoided: water is being wasted. I know people who have plans about the efficient use of water and soil. The least that can be said is that these plans can be tested. These individuals must be listened to. We must ask for their cooperation so that we can boost the country's agriculture and make it knowledge-based.
We have no shortage of agricultural graduates in the country. Once, I traveled to a provincial city and they said to me there that there was no unemployed agricultural student in the city and there were many. They said that they had a large number of agricultural graduates, none of whom were unemployed. All of them were employed on farms and in various fields and agricultural works, and farmers used their ideas. Well, they see the benefits of this and they know that the advantages of it are readily accessible. We must make agriculture technological and pursue good norms of water consumption in the real sense of the word. This was another issue.
The comprehensive strategic plan for the country's industry
The thing I said about the strategic plan at the beginning - the macro strategic plan of the industry - is very important! You must follow this. We need a document to be prepared. You must prepare a document of the strategic industrial plan of the country and approve it. A friend pointed out that with the change of administrations, the plan should not change. If it becomes a continuously enacted legal document, it will be used for many years. Well, there are other things to say, but the meeting has lasted a while, and time is up.
The necessity for the administration and the Majlis to pay attention to production
I hope that God the Exalted will bestow success on all of you. I sincerely thank all the friends who work in the field of industrial production and economic-productive activities, and I ask the brothers who have responsibilities in the administration, in various sectors of the administration, or in the Majlis - the brothers who are active in the relevant committees in the Majlis – to pay special attention to this important issue and to eliminate the obstacles in its way.
I named this year: “Production: support and the elimination of obstacles.” Well, support is important, but I think the elimination of obstacles is even more important. It means that you should remove the obstacles in the way of production and you can do so. Thankfully, executive officials are working hard. I see that they are truly showing diligence. You must continue this diligence and coordinate it with the realities in society and remove these obstacles. By God’s favors, the results of these endeavors will be tangible in the lives of the people in a not-too-distant future.
I ask God the Exalted to bestow success on all of you, to shower His blessings and mercy on the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam and on our great martyrs and to bestow His generosity on Iran, the Iranian nation and the officials of the country.
Greetings be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings
KHAMENEI.IR