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Strategy of Uncertainty. This was the title that we had nominated for the cover of this issue, referring to partnership strategies that Iran needs to formulate amid uncertain oil prices, uncertain international partners and uncertain regional status. However, as the situation relatively calmed down in Afghanistan and Islamic Republic of Iran became the first country to officially reopen its embassy in Kabul, we received signals that gave us reasons for a slight change in wording.
Some believe that the new millennium did not begin on January 1, 2001; it truly began on September 11, 2001. Nations who seemed united by a collective will for cooperation typical of the post-cold-war era, now share an alarming sense of uncertainty: What’s next?
In redefining business strategies in the new millennium, only one factor has changed: Risk. And it makes a world of difference. All economic and profit forecasts are null and void. Maybe it is still too early to arrive at a certain estimate of the damage done globally. Nevertheless, talking to investors and business executives, you get the unmistakable feeling that the impact of September 11th will be much deeper than the 0.5%-2% off the 2002 growth forecasts for the United States, Europe and East Asia.

Many of the most promising features of globalization are being called into question, but there is one aspect of globalized world that is already demanding greater recognition: The fates of the developed and developing world are economically and politically intermingled.
Miles away from lower Manhattan’s ground zero, in the Iranian capital, the Law for Attraction and Protection of Foreign Investment is like a soccer ball being kicked back and forth between the Parliament and the Guardian Council. Of course, there are promises, and encouraging signs, of unprecedented campaign against economic monopolies and rents. The Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance has launched a move to streamline monetary operations to revive the country’s capital market. This prompted us to dedicate some 40 pages of this issue to a set of exclusive interviews with active executives and decision-makers on the topic of capital market in Iran.
The energy industry has seen its prospects take a dramatic dive. With a recession expected to trim worldwide oil demand 1% next year, crude, gasoline, and other energy prices have been plummeting. Therefore, busy on that side is the Iranian Minister of Petroleum. Still under criticism from here and there, he is expediting gas field development projects to lead the country toward a business that looks more stable than oil – before it is too late.
And finally, there is our foreign relations policy that is expected to actively support our trade policies. Not by holding investment seminars abroad, but by listening to, and solving the problems of international partners at home.
At the start of a new year with new hopes, Iran needs to formulate a winning strategy for partnership.