Dr. Kazem Khavazi at the meeting with the chairman of the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives and the chairman of the Agriculture and Food Industries Commission of the Chamber said: The agricultural sector welcomes any investment to develop this sector and since cooperatives are our capital, they should be involved in decisions related to the agricultural sector. He added: We have tried to implement this through interactions between the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad. The minister of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad emphasized on not working in parallel in cooperatives and mentioned: It is very important not to work in parallel in the cooperatives and to coordinate the activities and the equalization of facilities should not lead to a slowdown in work and make the current assistance ineffective. He continued: Decisions must be made in a way that leads to development in the agricultural sector. Dr. Khavazi emphasized on handing over the authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad to the private sector and said: Many of the duties and powers of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad or the powers consolidated into a single cooperative must be consulted and distributed to all related cooperatives in order to achieve the goals of the cooperatives and the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad. He emphesized the need for cooperation between the deputies of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad and the heads of the cooperatives and added: It is necessary to sign memoranda of understanding with the cooperatives at the level of the deputies of this ministry so that the deputies can be aware of the problems of this sector and remove the obstacles and solve the problems. Regarding the export barriers, the minister of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad also noted that we have to find the paths and problems of the export sector and raise the obstacles in the cabinet so that the necessary licenses can be approved. He referred to the provision of foreign currency for the import of vegetables, summer crops and veterinary medicines and continued: This issue was raised in the cabinet meeting and the need to provide vegetables and summer crops and veterinary medicines was heard by the president. As a result, the cabinet approved that the foreign currency needed by this sector should be provided quickly and the problems of this sector should be solved.
The importance of the role of cooperation in the field of agriculture
At the meeting, the chairman of the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives introduced the activities of the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives and stated: The cooperative sector is the second pillar of the economy, which is clearly emphasized in Article 44 of the Constitution on its activities in various fields. Mr. Bahman Abdollahi continued: Cooperatives are active in all different sectors of agriculture, including agriculture, horticulture, livestock and poultry, fisheries and aquaculture. He said: More than 90 % of agricultural production is carried out in the cooperative sector. In the field of poultry production, 35 % of the production and in the field of fish and fisheries production, more than 80 % of the production is conducted in the cooperative sector.