Government to provide business improvement conditions
Active in the stone industry: In spite of all the slogans to support the producers, the government is practically producing wheelchairs.
According to the International Stone Exhibition of Iran, an economic expert assessed the potentials of the stone and construction industry as worthy of attention and said: Our country's stone industry has many potentials but unfortunately these potentials are not exploited.
Describing the barriers to production, Mohammad Reza Salari said: "Manufacturers have a lot of problems; our first problem is supplying human resources." Working in a stone factory is a daunting task.
"Our next problem is the high cost of energy carriers," he said. The cost of our electricity is so high that it does not generate economical savings. Travertine, which is a staple of our work, has become very expensive and production has stopped.
Criticizing the government's tax policies, Salari said, "VAT is being added day by day, but the economic power of producers is decreasing every day, and the two are not commensurate." On the other hand, our domestic customers are not able to pay us VAT.
He said the exporters' problems were overwhelming and said: "As a domestic producer, we are very keen to get into the export field, but the problems are so great that manufacturers are afraid to move to export."
The stone industry activist added: "Despite all the slogans that are being put in place to support producers, the government actually puts the wheelchair in production." The government must provide the conditions for the business development of producers by providing low-interest loans.
Mohammad Reza Salari called for the involvement of the trade union in government decisions and said: "We have a trade union to deliver our demands to the government." The guild also tries, but the guilds are not taken seriously.
