TEHRAN, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- One of the most important economic challenges the world is facing is minimizing the post-COVID-19 negative impacts, said a senior Iranian business leader in a recent interview with Xinhua.
When commenting on the global economy in 2023, Majidreza Hariri, president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCCI), noted that for the first time in the past six decades, the inflation rate in all European states and major economies had been reflecting a highly increasing trend in 2023, stressing that although these states had managed to control their inflation to some extent, the pandemic's impacts still lingered.
"The global economy is also faced with a (threat of) recession. The growth rates of some of the world's major economies have become negative," he said.
Hariri said the most important challenge the world would face in 2024 to improve its economic situation would be preparing the ground for cooperation and efforts to that end.
"The question is to what extent countries would be willing to work together to overcome this crisis, like what happened in 2008 when all states helped resolve the global financial crisis," he said.
Turning to Iran's economic performance in 2023, the ICCCI president said the country had managed to free itself from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to a certain extent and the economic problems the outbreak had caused.
"But the negative impacts of the three-year-long pandemic on Iran's economy will persist for some time," Hariri said.
He noted the breakthroughs achieved by the incumbent administration under Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi regarding oil exports in 2023, saying the country was exporting its crude oil to the global market under better circumstances.
"This has led to a relative improvement in Iran's economic indicators, such as the unemployment and inflation rates and the national currency's value, as well as the country's greater economic stability," he said.
In addition, Hariri said that over the past two years, Iran had managed to -- thanks to the Raisi administration's good performance in economic diplomacy -- improve its relations with those countries whose economies are not greatly influenced by the United States.
He cited Iran's accession to BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as two other achievements that would help the country strengthen its coalition and relations with its current trade partners.
Hariri said one of Iran's main future economic challenges would be minimizing the impacts of the sanctions on its economy, making it more resistant to them. ■
