Ayatollah Khamenei Highlights Importance of Boosting Production, Creating Jobs in Iran

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a televised message to the nation on the occasion of the Persian New Year on Sunday afternoon.

On the occasion of the Persian New Year on Sunday afternoon, Ayatollah Khamenei delivered a televised speech to the nation.

The Leader once again emphasized the necessity of increasing domestic production, as he did in previous years, adding that it is important "because it enhances economic growth, creates employment, decreases inflation, increases per capita income, and improves public welfare."

“Furthermore, it also brings about psychological effects since it boosts national self-confidence and creates a sense of dignity in the nation. Production is such an elixir. National production is this important if it is carried out in the best possible way, God willing.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also designated the new Iranian calendar year of 1401 as the year of “Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating.”

The following is the full text of the Leader’s New Year message:

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and greetings upon our Master, Muhammad, and upon his pure Progeny, especially the remnant of God on earth.

O Changer of hearts and eyes,

O Director of nights and days,

O Transformer of situations and circumstances,

Transform our circumstances to the best of circumstances!

I would like to express my congratulations on Nowruz and the arrival of a new year, new growth in nature and new days. This year, Nowruz coincides with the festivities for the 15th of Sha’ban, which belongs to the bright sun of the universe, the Imam of the Time (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). I wish to congratulate the great Iranian nation and all concerned, like-minded nations on these events.

In particular, I wish to congratulate the esteemed families of the martyrs–those patient, cherished families, may God not deprive the Iranian nation and all of us of the existence of these esteemed families. I also congratulate the dear, disabled war veterans and their patient families, and also those who have made great sacrifices and are truly serving the Iranian nation in different fields–including in the fields of health, security, resistance and science. I congratulate all these dear people on the occasion of this sweet, auspicious holiday.

Another year has passed. The year 1400 SH is over with all its sweet and bitter moments and all its ups and downs, which are a natural part of life. Life is a combination of these sweet and bitter moments and these ups and downs. I wish to point out a few of these great, sweet moments that have occurred for the Iranian nation.

One of them was the elections. The elections were truly important and magnificent. Despite the fact that the pandemic was at its peak in early 1400 SH, the people went to the ballot boxes and cast their votes. This is very important. This took place despite the fact that even two individuals gathering in one particular point was dangerous. In those days, we were witnessing death rates in the hundreds–500, 600 and at times even more individuals in a day. The elections were held in such circumstances. The people went to the polls and participated in the elections. The result was that a new Administration entered the arena. 

The evidence shows that this Administration is a popular administration, which is concerned about the goals of the people and which moves on a different path from the previous honorable Administration. This Administration has revived hope in the people, praise God. This was one of the most important events that took place for the Iranian nation.

Another peak event was the serious confrontation with the Coronavirus pandemic. This disease was confronted and combatted in the true sense of the word. Death rates dropped from several hundred a day to 18 or 20 at times. Although the death rates have risen to a certain extent again, there is a drastic difference between these days when the vaccine is available to everyone and those days.

Another peak was our scientific and technological progress. One example was the domestic production of different vaccines, some of which have received certification globally. Various other scientific and technological advances were also made ranging from the production of vaccines to the launching of satellites. The country made important progress in all areas, praise God. These were the great peaks in the year 1400 SH. Various other events also took place inside the country and there were other sweet moments as well.

There were great peaks in the international arena as well. One of the sweetest events that took place in the year 1400 SH was the Americans explicitly acknowledging—just recently—that they had suffered a “humiliating” defeat in their “maximum pressure policy” against Iran. The term “humiliating” was a term they themselves used. This was an important event. The Iranian nation was victorious. The Iranian nation won. No single person in particular can claim credit for this. It was the resistance of the Iranian nation that brought about such a great victory.

Various other events took place as well, both in our vicinity and far from us. Of course, all of these showed the correctness of the path that the Iranian nation is traveling in confronting Arrogance. These events showed that the correct path is the one that the Iranian nation has taken against Arrogance. Well, these were the sweet moments.

We were witness to some bitter moments as well. The most severe, important of these bitter moments in my opinion are such things as the problems that exist for the livelihood of the people, the issue of high prices, inflation and the like. Well, these problems must definitely be solved. These problems are solvable. These are economic problems, a part of which I hope will be resolved this year. Not all of them can be resolved at once. They will be resolved little by little. If one is impatient and hasty and says that all of the problems must be solved very quickly, this is not realistic. However, I hope that some of these problems will be resolved in the year 1401 SH, which is the first year of the new century, the 15th century in the Solar Hijri calendar, God willing. 

In previous years, I have chosen a title to be the slogan of the year. In this way, the officials–primarily those in the Executive Branch but alongside them those in the Legislative and Judiciary branches and also the people in general, when matters are related to them–may move in that direction. In some years, good achievements were made in this regard. Of course in certain years, some negligence was shown.

For the year 1400 SH, I chose the slogan “Production: Support and the Elimination of Obstacles.” Good work was done toward that end and continues to be done, and this must be done. In recent years, I have focused on “production” for the slogan of the year, accompanied by certain descriptive terms. The reason is that production is the key to solving the economic problems of the country. National production is indeed the main path that needs to be taken for moving past the economic hardships and difficulties that exist in the country. In other words, the most important economic issues of the country can be resolved by boosting and improving national production. This is the nature of production.

That is why we have placed great emphasis on production; because it boosts economic growth, it creates employment, it reduces inflation, it increases per capita income and it improves public welfare. Furthermore, it also brings about psychological effects since it boosts national self-confidence and creates a sense of dignity in the nation. Production is such an elixir. National production is this important if it is carried out in the best possible way, God willing.

That is why I have stressed the importance of production in recent years. And this emphasis was effective. Praise God, it has had good results. I wish to highlight production this year too, but with a new added layer and a new aspect. I wish to emphasize a production that has two characteristics: one is that it should create jobs and the other is that it should be knowledge-based. We must encourage knowledge-based production–one that is reliant on new scientific advances–and a production that generates employment. Of course, all kinds of production generate employment. But some kinds of production do not create much employment despite the fact that they require a huge investment while other kinds of production create abundant employment opportunities. By God’s grace, I will expand on this in tomorrow’s speech [the Leader’s annual New Year speech].

If we make knowledge-based production the main criterion, and if we pursue the kind of production that is knowledge-based with the characteristics that I will mention in my New Year’s speech, I believe we will witness tangible progress and a good move forward in achieving all of our economic goals. The same is true of production that creates jobs. Therefore, this year’s slogan is “Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating.” 

We are after this kind of production. Of course, I wish to stress as I did last year that officials should not be satisfied with merely writing this slogan on the letterhead of their organizations or with putting up a sign on the street with this slogan. Such things don’t do anything. The main issue is to formulate policies based on this idea in the true sense of the word. Of course, according to what I have seen, this Administration, by God’s grace, will make advancements considering the diligence of the honorable President and that of his colleagues. In other words, this slogan will not remain unheeded, by God’s grace. However, the more work that is done and the more effort that is made, the better it will be.

I hope that God, the Exalted, will bestow good upon the Iranian nation this year, on this Eid and in this valuable one-year opportunity. I hope that God willing He will make the people happy, make their lives sweet, gladden the hearts of the people and gladden the pure souls of our dear martyrs and the immaculate soul of our late magnanimous Imam (may God bestow paradise on him).

I hope that God, the Exalted, will send the greetings of all of us and convey our devotion and sincerity to the great Imam of the Time (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake).

May God’s greetings, mercy and blessings be upon you.