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Iran
NON-OIL INDUSTRY
Government incentives to bolster domestic industry were offered
in the mid-1980s, but they were offset by the effects of the war.
Factories were forced to lay off workers or to shut down because
of declines in imports of as much as nearly 50 percent. This decline
resulted in raw material shortages. Other state and private industrial
enterprises converted to production of military matériel.
In the mid-1980s, Iran halted importation of domestically producible
machinery. As an incentive to domestic production, industries
that produced war matériel were granted about US$400 million to
replace items whose import value would have exceeded US$1.3 billion.
Domestic production increases by 1986 resulted in local manufacture
of 80 percent of required munitions, including an antitank missile
and such items as gas masks for protection against Iraqi chemical
weapons. Industrial production held steady in early 1987, following
a 20 percent drop in 1985 from 1984. The Ministry of Heavy Industries
anticipated US$75 million in industrial exports in FY 1986.
Among the projects scheduled for funding in FY 1987 were a pesticides
plant at Qazvin and the completion of a steel plant at Mobarakeh.
There were also plans to construct mineral processing plants in
the northwestern city of Zanjan that would produce 40,000 tons
of lead and 60,000 tons of zinc annually.
The non-oil industrial sector represented a small portion of
the economy, but it provided labor-intensive domestic employment,
such as the hand knotting of rugs. Foreign sales of Iran's non-oil
products also generated badly needed hard currency. Iran exported
US$2.3 billion worth of non-oil goods between 1982 and 1987. Of
this total, agricultural products accounted for 32.2 percent,
carpets 29.3 percent, textiles 10.9 percent, and caviar 4.9 percent
(see Non-Oil Exports , this ch.).
In 1986 Iran started placing greater emphasis on non-oil sectors
to offset falling oil prices and revenue. Non-oil revenue totaled
about US$700 million in 1986, in comparison with oil revenues
of less than US$1 billion. Although it had increased by US$200
million over the previous year, non-oil revenue fell short of
the official goal of US$1 billion. Carpet sales accounted for
most of the increase, whereas exports of such items as industrial
goods and minerals decreased. The FY 1987 target for non-oil exports
was doubled to US$1.4 billion, including US$50 million in locally
made goods.
Data as of December 1987
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