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today as it had a substantial share of the country's e-commerce industry in 2020.
“Despite being known as the leader of online retail in Iran, Digikala has had a constructive impact by contributing far more than just an online store in fortifying the country's business ecosystem within the e-commerce industry.” Outlining Digikala’s ambitions, the update stated: “This corporation aims to become the primary destination for online shopping, not only in Iran but also in the Middle East, by using breakthrough technologies to reach several goals tending to the needs of customers.
“These goals include creating a first-rate shopping experience for customers, presenting a deep assortment and a wide variety of products, offering favorable prices, producing abounding and valuable content, having the quickest delivery time, and completing operations efficiently.”
9.1.10 Property & construction sector news
Iran’s economy ministry looks to raise $600mn from property auctions
Iran’s urban development minister says Raisi’s mass housing plan ‘not inflationary’
Around 2,500 residential and commercial properties with an officially estimated value of approximately $600mn are to be auctioned by Iran’s economy ministry in a bid to raise funds for the governmet, Tehran’s Financial Tribune has reported.
Some of the property assets, dating from before Iran’s 1979 revolution, are available because of mergers between ministries over the years that left office space free. In central Tehran there are such buildings that have been left empty for decades. Only in the past decade have there been significant sales of abandoned buildings of this type to private developers. The developers mostly look to turn them into luxury flats or business centres.
“These properties have been recognised as excess and are ready for sale, and have all the legal ownership documents,” Fateme Dadgar, a spokeswoman for the economy ministry was quoted as saying by news portal shada.ir, in reference to all the assets to be auctioned.
The economy ministry has plans to raise close to Iranian rial (IRR) 1,000tn ($3.5bn at the free market exchange rate) in all from property sales nationwide and equity to be sold on the stock market, the official added.
However, successive Iranian governments have struggled to offload old assets to the private sector due to overpricing of estate. According to the Supreme Audit Office, both the former Rouhani government, which was in power for two terms until the summer of this year, and the Raisi administration, which came into office in August, have struggled in selling off assets, with government departments unwilling to play ball.
Iran’s new Minister for Roads and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi has insisted that the Raisi administration’s plan to build 1mn homes a year over its four-year term of office will not add to inflation in the economy, IBENA reported.
President Ebrahim Raisi stated in his election campaign manifesto how he wanted 4mn new homes built for his countrymen as part of a new social housing plan. However, he immediately came under fire for imitating the Maskan e-Mehr ( “Sun” or “Friendship” Housing) plan of the Ahmadinejad era of a decade ago, widely viewed as a failed scheme that left derelict tower blocks across the country due to poor planning and shoddy work performed by contractors.
“Some say the construction of one million housing units will create inflation, but that will not be the case because we will not use government resources to build these units, we have formulated [other] ways to finance this programme,
56 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com