What will the Ministry of Economy face in the free zones?

What will the Ministry of Economy face in the free zones?

What will the Ministry of Economy face in the free zones? Performance of the Ministry of Economy in Free Zones, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Deputy of the Ministry of Economy announced yesterday the final transfer of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones to this ministry in accordance with the Sixth Development Plan law.

According to Anna Az Javan, another media group, the Deputy Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs of the Ministry of Economy announced yesterday the final transfer of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones to this ministry in accordance with the Sixth Development Plan law. Pursuant to Article 23 of the Sixth Development Plan Law, all duties, powers, structure and organization of the Secretariat of the High Council of Free and Special Economic Zones shall be transferred to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance with the preservation of independent legal personality and compliance with relevant rules and regulations. Will be related to the field of free trade-industrial and special economic zones.

In this way, a new responsibility will be assigned to the heavy and various tasks of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, which was in about 20 areas, which will be accountable to the parliament, because according to the final part of the note of Article 23 of the Sixth Development Plan Law From now on, the country’s economy and finance will be responsible for enforcing laws related to the scope of free industrial and special economic free trade zones.

But what are the threats and opportunities for these areas by handing them over to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance? Especially since these free zones have been entrusted to the person who has had the most challenge in his field of management. In other words, the dispute between the free zones and the customs and handing it over to one of the parties to the dispute can finally solve the problem of the free zones; Problems leading to the smuggling of goods and declining government revenues, and abusers in various letters of production importance, made the free zones a haven for foreign goods to pay lower customs and tax costs. It is said that this is one of the most important reasons for the transfer of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones to the Ministry of Economy, and it is hoped that the new minister will resolve the issue with the knowledge of the gaps in the free zones. On the other hand, with the transfer of free zones, the issue of tax revenues can be pursued or even demanded more seriously. In other words, with the enactment of efficient laws, the executive branch of which is now consolidated into one ministry, it can be hoped that the tax policies of the free zones will change from a dock of foreign goods to a place of production and export.

But another strength of this transition can be considered in terms of attracting investment, especially in financial markets. Whereas, on the one hand, the Ministry of Economy, with its central insurance, can facilitate the entry of foreign insurers in these areas, and on the other hand, with the cooperation of the Investment and Economic and Technical Assistance Organization of Iran (Economic Diplomacy) and the Deputy Minister of Banking and Insurance Provides for cooperation with foreign banks. In this way, the free zones can be considered as a safe subdivision of a ministry to achieve the goals set forth in the free zone laws, if there is a will to implement it and the organization of these zones is not postponed according to the minister’s plans.

In the programs proposed by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance to general goals and orientations such as activating the capacities of regions with a three-pronged export, employment and targeted absorption of domestic and foreign capital, increasing coordination in the relations of regional organizations with government agencies, public and people to expedite Development of free and special economic zones and programs such as operationalization of the legal obligation authorized in Article 3 of the Sixth Development Plan Law, facilitating the presence of international companies and institutions, especially financial institutions (banking, insurance and investment) in free and special zones, participation in establishing investment funds in Free zones (currency or Rials) and finally the compilation of a dedicated business index of free zones, monitoring and comparison with the mainland and similar regions in other countries are mentioned.

But there is no doubt that with the transfer of these areas, the Ministry of Economy will have more responsibility towards more than 50 members of parliament (based on the constituencies of the deputies who live in free and special areas). However, this ministry has the most requests and requests from the parliament compared to other members of the cabinet, which on the one hand will be reflected in the minister spending most of his time in the parliament or in private meetings with the deputies, and on the other hand A change in the right direction will slow down the free zones. In addition, the transfer of responsibility for these zones from the presidential subdivision to a ministry will inevitably lead to the disobedience of other agencies and ministries located in these zones, whose coordination will require a lot of time and numerous lobbies. .

Asked if the Ministry of Economy could oversee the activities of the agencies operating in the free zones, Akbar Turkan, secretary of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones, said: “This ministry does not overlook other agencies, so it should be separated. He now foresaw the opportunities and threats of joining these areas to the Ministry of Economy and Finance so that the people of these areas would not feel that they had fallen from the hole into the well.