The Industrial Gap Between Iran and Turkey and Saudi Arabia Has Widened

An economic newspaper in Iran, analyzing industrial development in Iran and neighboring countries within the framework of the goals outlined in the 20-Year Vision Document, wrote that "the industrial gap between Iran and countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia has widened." The newspaper "Donya-e-Eqtesad" reported: Iran ranks sixth in the region in terms of industrial competitiveness index, following countries such as Turkey, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. This report emphasizes that the volume of Iran's industrial value-added has remained stagnant at around $60 billion over the past decade. A review of statistics in this area shows that the size of Iran's industrial sector or the volume of industrial value-added has decreased compared to its two main regional competitors, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, since 2005, with the gap with Turkey being deeper. According to the report, in 2005, the year the Vision Document was implemented, the gap in the size of Iran's industrial sector with Saudi Arabia and Turkey was $6.6 billion and $44.7 billion, respectively, which increased to $18.5 billion and $137.4 billion by 2022 (1401). The detachment of Iran's economy from development has always been a point of criticism among observers. Critics believe that an unfavorable business environment and instability in macroeconomic variables are the main factors behind this situation, a fact that the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has also confirmed, stating that the competitiveness of Iran's industrial manufacturing ranks sixth after Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain. This is while it was expected that according to the 20-Year Vision Document, Iran would be in the top economic position in the region by the end of this period, but today, in the last two years of this document, it ranks sixth. Meanwhile, inflation above 40% in recent years has also put maximum pressure on producers and consumers.