According to Mehr News Agency, on Sunday morning in a press conference attended by journalists for the first anniversary of Co-operative Development and Construction Co registration, Davood Ghelichi explaned on the activities of cooperatives in the country, “The economy is categorized under the three divisions of governmental, private, and cooperative sections in the constitution, but the cooperation has not come to its rightful place yet despite the stresses stipulated in the constitution and the leader’s clear guidelines.”
Stating that cooperatives have reached 5 percent out of 25 of its share, he added, “The parliament has attempted in recent years so that the role of cooperatives can be enhanced in developing the country, and the representatives have approved an Act based on which each town can establish a co-operative development and construction company. Fortunately, this approval has been implemented in Shahrood and Semnan province based on which all activities that can lead to the growth and the development of the towns will be carried out by these companies.”
There are 22 o-operative development and construction companies in the country
Stating that 22 o-operative development and construction companies have already been formed companies in the country, Shahroud Cooperative Development and Construction managing director said, “Senman province has two co-operative development and construction companies in Shahrood and Garmsar.”
Ghelichi added, “If the co-operative development and construction company can implement its plants based on the Act of the parliament and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, and the cooperation of shareholders and city officials, it will be among the companies which have significant impact on the economy of the region.”
He stated, “Three groups of real persons including those who were born in Shahrood, the residents of Shahrood, and the ones who work in shahrood can be the shareholders of the co-operative development and construction company while the companies and the institutions like the municipality are permitted to join it.”
The necessity of benefiting the capacities of Shahrood in the development
The cooperative managing director, stating that the cooperative works as per the endogenous and outward-looking policy, said, “It means that all the city possessions, opportunities and potential capacities should be used in order that the endogenous policy will take place. No matter how large is a city, it requires outward – looking to have a sales market. That is why we should look out of our environment."
Ghelichi explained more on how the cooperative works, "We defined our activities in Shahrood based on the fact that either the company itself invests or participate in constructing or launching the projects which has luckily been welcomed."
Stating that commissioning the projects of the cooperative will solve many problems, he added, "After forming the board of founders, the evaluation of the capacities in different sectors of the region started. Biarjmand, the center sector with the priority of Toroud area, Bastam region, and Majen were evaluated in terms of their capacities and potentials. Based on the evaluation, various working groups were formed to write appropriate plants for each area and to make scheduled plans for the growth, the development, and sustainable occupation."
Shahrood has national capacities
Shahroud Cooperative Development and Construction managing director, stating Shahrood has national economic potentials, said, "This city has valuable position in terms of agriculture, tourism, natural resources, human resources, … for which the small public investments can be managed best by the help of cooperative development and construction company in order to promote the current situation of the city and people's condition."
Ghelichi also stated, "By evaluating the capacities of the city, the first significant potential of Shahrood is Tourism industry because of its different climates, ancient sites, and pristine natural areas. In the first stage, some of these capacities will be employed with the cooperation of an existing travel agency of the city."
He added, "Regarding the minimum investment and the availability of the infrastructure especially in eco-tourism, we only need to attract tourists. If we can take action about these capacities as they merit, we will have a significant impact on the economy of the region."
Study for the construction of small power plants in Semnan province
Shahroud Cooperative Development and Construction managing director, stating that the permission to construct a few scattered generators has been received, said, "Another ongoing project is to construct power plants under the title of scattered generators which is in the line with the government policy of constructing small power plants instead of huge investment in the construction of large power plants because they need lower investment and the cost of their maintenance is lower. Moreover, the energy waste because transferring electricity from the generation site to consumers will be minimum which was also emphasized in Semnan province."
Regarding the agricultural sector of Shahrood, Ghelichi said, "Considering Shahrood is one of the country's agricultural hubs, the necessity to change the application of the land in the region is felt due to the crisis of water shortage and the existence of new technology."
He added, “All vegetables and an important part of farming products in the region which are grown normally have the capabilities to be planted as seedlings. If the old method continues, the water will waste and the soil will be damaged. However, water waste will be minimal in planting seedlings while the surplus value will be multiplied for the farmers.”
Ghelichi considered the use of seedlings instead of seeds important because it will conserve water and said, “I hope that we will get the permission of the first seedling production unit by the middle of September and put it in operation.”
The production unit of seedlings will be launched in Shahrood
Shahroud Cooperative Development and Construction managing director also announced the exploitation of the seedling space in the village of Jafarabad with the employment of 10 people and said, “This plant will be launched in a land with the surface area of 5550 m2 , in a greenhouse of 4000 m2 for which an amount of 750 million Tomans is required for the purchase of machinery and equipment. If the credit is allocated, the plant can grow seedlings for all the seasons of the year.”
Ghelichi continued, “The Department of Agriculture has taken an important step by purchasing seedlings from neighboring provinces, training farmers, and changing flooding irrigation into dripping type. The correction of planting methods will not only lead to the increase in farmer’s efficiency and the improvement of the land performance regarding the recent drought years but also will result in water saving.”
Mentioning the cultivation of medical herbs as another potential of the region, he added, “Given the diversity that exists in this sector, Shahrood can become a brand in this field, the company is establishing a production unit of medical herbal oil and distillation as the first step and is promoting the cultivation of medical herbs which will be purchased from farmers as per a contract which not only bring about income but also help the sustainable employment remarkably.”
The cultivation of medical herbs as a capacity for Shahrood
Shahroud Cooperative Development and Construction managing director also stated, “Making contract with pharmaceutical companies is one of the plans of the cooperative company that has prepared a list of the medical herbs cultivable in the region so that we can keep pace with the year slogan of resistance economy; action and practice.”
Ghelichi continued, “Regarding the fruit of the region such as grapes, apricot, …, the company is going to make a production line of sorting, packing, and preparing sliced dried fruit.”
Employment for Shahrood in the field of producing paper
Referring to producing paper from limestone, Shahroud Cooperative Development and Construction managing director said, “At present, a major part of domestic consumption of paper is imported paper while Shahrood with its rich limestone mines has the potential to be changed into the hub of producing paper from limestone which is a new technology in this field. If it takes place, the deforestation will be prevented. In addition, it also saves the water consumption because water is not used in this method of paper production. Moreover, the waste of this paper making mill will not hurt the environment.”
Stating it is anticipated that by launching the first phase, the background of employing 60 people will be provided and our country will be pioneer in decreasing the import, even in exporting paper to neighboring countries, and in economic output, Ghelichi added, “We are going to move towards attracting investors with the cooperation of organizations and city authorities through expertise view so that the projects will be prioritized and the next phases will be implemented with the return of the investment.”
Referring to other measures of the cooperative company such as breeding turkey, manufacturing serum, glass, and escalators, he added, “The company shareholders will receive appropriate discount when they purchase from the corporation under our contract.”