Chairman’s Report
November 2004

It is with great pleasure that I accepted the nomination to the Chairman position of ICBC in replacement of John Hutchinson who had to leave us because of his new promotion at SNC-Lavalin as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Petrochemical division in Calgary.
First, I would like to thank John for his time well served at the ICBC and would like to thank the Board of Directors for their vote of confidence in electing me as the new Chairman for the ICBC. SNC-Lavalin and I are fully committed to the success of this Council.
Second, I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to EDC, Ontario Exports, International Trade, the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, the Canadian Embassy in Tehran and to all members of ICBC for their continuous support.

The year 2004 has been a difficult year in the Persian Gulf region and in the political relationship between Iran and Canada. The ICBC has been under a lot of pressure to maintain a positive record in attracting more members and to organize events across Canada. In fact, the ICBC had to cancel several events scheduled during the last calendar year
Also during 2004, the ICBC bid farewell to two ardent supporters of the Council; His Excellency Dr. M. Mousavi, former Ambassador of Iran to Canada and Mr. P. McKinnon, former Ambassador of Canada to Iran. I along with the other ICBC members wish both Ambassadors a successful future in their respective careers.
Due to some difficult political problems between Iran and Canada neither country has, to date, nominated their new representatives.
On a more positive note, the ICBC has been able to increase the membership to 42 members during this past year. In 2004 the Board of Directors was increased from 9 to 23 members; a new Executive Committee, consisting of 9 members, was elected and task forces were established to prepare reports on Governance and Strategy for the future. I would like to thank these committees and task
forces for their valuable work and devotion.
Our new Executive Director, Ms Doreen Ruso, has been instrumental in managing the day-to-day work of the Council and strengthening our relationships with government, embassies and members. Her work is much appreciated and I am looking forward to increasing her time commitment with the Council with a view to increasing our activities and revenue.
As you already know, Iran is one of the largest countries in southwest Asia. Iran's market is rich in natural resources and interested in technological progress and international development. The country's natural resources represent significant untapped wealth. Iran is OPEC's second largest oil producer. Iran has a relatively diversified economy and is not a pure oil economy as commonly assumed. Nonetheless, it is important to note that 75 to 80% of the country's hard currency income is generated through oil exports.
In the last 4 years, the World Bank has approved three important loans to Iran in the Water and Wastewater sector, Environment Management Support and Bam Reconstruction efforts.
During its third five-year development plan (2000 - 2005), Iran is expected to import about US $ 123 billion of goods and services with an annual growth rate of about 5%. This is an opportunity for Canadian companies to tap this market for goods and services. Progress is being made on: unification and stabilization of the exchange rate; introduction of a flat 25% corporate tax (almost half the previous rate); issuance of 72 hour business visas at airports and easing of import regulations.

The Executive Committee’s focus for the next year is to achieve the following:
1. Increase membership
2. Enhance communication with members
3. Enhance communication with ICCC
4. Hold a board meeting every 6 months
5. Organize Annual General Meeting in different Canadian cities
6. Organize events and conferences on periodical basis in major Canadian cities
7. Organize one multi-disciplinary mission to Iran
8. Host one multi-disciplinary mission from Iran
Finally, with the recent tabling by the Canadian Government of a resolution at the United Nations expressing the concerns of many countries for violations of human rights in Iran and calling upon the Government of Iran to abide by its international obligations, I believe that ICBC has a major challenge in raising interest among Canadian companies to work in Iran.
Through economical and trade activities, we can help shape a more positive political relationship between Canada and Iran.
Zouheir Chebl
Iran Canada Business Council
Chairman
SNC-Lavalin International Inc.
Vice President, Middle East