We should try to remove the budget dependence on petrodollars,

Caspian Energy (CE): Mr. Minister, what are the major development principles of the Iranian economy? Which areas of development in Iran should especially be prioritized?

Ali Tayyebnia, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran: During my tenure, I have repeatedly made references to Iran Economic Development Initiatives Plan as a boon for Iran’s sustainable development. The plan, has been developed according to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s General Policies, the Twenty-Year Outlook Document, the Strategy & Planning Guidelines of President Rouhani’s Administration of Hope & Prudence and the Fifth Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan. It sets out seven interlinked priorities which will be the focus of the policy approach in 14 departments of the Ministry of Economy, with the quantitative objectives and key measures having been laid out in a document. Performance evaluation rooted in quantitative goals enables an accurate assessment of the degree how successfully a certain plan has worked out over a certain period of time. I would rather call Economic Development Initiatives Plan, a strategic management process which started to take shape from my earliest days at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and will continue until the last day of my time in there. From day one, I invited all departments, deputies and sub-committees to let us know of their challenges and ongoing concerns. 

Then, in a 100-day period, we managed to set up a preliminary draft which was developed in accord with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s General Policies, the Twenty-Year Outlook Document, the ethical charter of the 11th Administration and the Fifth Development Plan. All the clauses and terms of the document, and the overall seven-fold priorities, are in full compliance with upstream documents of the Government and its policies and practices. The seven-fold priorities are: the expansion of national wealth-creation capacity to strengthen national production, exploring secure & sustainable financing models to reduce dependence on oil revenues; creating distributed operational database management systems; promoting an active public participation in policymaking; enhancing fiscal and administrative transparency, financial health and discipline; targeted administrative and human resource development; and improving intra-organizational synergy and inter-organizational collaboration.