Also signed between senior managers of Iran’s Social Security Investment Company and the Turkish investment company was a delivery document for an Iranian-built catamaran-type ship. The high-speed double-hulled passenger watercraft with an aluminum body catamaran vessel has a contract on its construction of about $10 million.

Another Turkish company signed a $15-million agreement with The Social Security Investment Company for the modernization and development of Arvandan shipbuilding site in Khuzestan province. Approximately $5 million will be allocated as working capital for the projects.

Also signed today was a third contract, a $70 million investment in construction of a commercial building in Tehran in four years. The costs of this construction will also be paid by the Turkish side.

The Social Security Investment Company (Shasta) was established in 1986 for the purpose of investment, contribution and attainment of interests and benefits from the reserves of Social Security Organization.

Iran’s Social Security Organization (SSO) is a social insurer organization in which Iran provides coverage for wage-earners and salaried workers. It also provides voluntary coverage for self-employed persons as well. The Social Security Law was approved and the SSO was established for workers in 1975.

Although Iran did not legislate in favor of a universal social protection, in 1996, the Center of the Statistics of Iran estimated that more than 73% of the Iranian population was covered by social security. Membership in the social security system is compulsory for all employees.

Presently, after thirty years of experience in investment affairs and as a trustee of people’s capital the Social Security Investment Company has made efforts to keep an active presence in the production and services scope.

However, the Shasta holdings and subsidiary companies have allocated themselves a great portion of production and services in the fields of oil, gas and petrochemical, medicine, cement, ICT, energy, mineral, metallic and nonmetallic industries.

Iran’s Social Security Organization is a non-governmental organization and it is solely financed by contributions, with participation of insured (7%), the employer (20–23%) and the government (3%). Social Security protection is extended to the self-employed workers, who voluntarily contribute between 12% and 18% of their income, which depends on the protection they desire. Civil servants, the regular military, law enforcement agencies, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have their own pension systems.

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