Chambers of commerce provide over $38m for battling coronavirus

Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) says the country’s chambers of commerce have provided 1.63 trillion rials (about $38.8 million) to help containing the coronavirus, IRNA reported.

Speaking in a board assembly of Mashhad Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, Gholam-Hossein Shafe’i said improving the resilience of the country's productive sector against the economic impacts of the pandemic depends on prioritizing the allocation of government supports and the financial resources collected by the chambers.

In this regard, in addition to studying international experiences, and provincial challenges, views and suggestions from 70 private sector organizations and 22 chambers of commerce across the country were collected and summarized, the results of which have provided a comprehensive picture of the existing problems and the future challenges.

The official further underlined Iran’s special economic conditions under the U.S. sanctions and noted: “Iran is facing a different situation in the face of the crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak since our country faced the pandemic under severe sanctions.”

“We also saw falling oil prices, which added to the problems, so the government’s packages for supporting the economy and the business environment are very limited and therefore managing these limited resources is of utmost importance and the private sector eyes government strategies in this regard”, he added.

In early March, ICCIMA set up Coronavirus Containment Headquarters in the chamber for cooperation with organizations that are responsible for battling the virus.

In a letter to the secretary-general of the chamber, Shafe’i ordered the establishment of the headquarters, urging daily meetings among its staff to assist responsible organizations and fellow citizens.

Shafe’i also called on the heads of chambers of commerce across the country to establish Coronavirus Containment Headquarters to carry out their social responsibility and to help people and organizations.

source: TehranTimes