Seyed Mohsen Jamali said the fund’s traditional service model was no
longer sufficient for its nationwide retiree population and that technology
would be central to a broader overhaul of operations.
The fund operates 52 regional offices across Iran, but their
capacity to handle the volume of requests is limited, Jamali said. The plan is
to shift many services online and effectively bring the functions of those
offices to retirees’ homes through mobile phones, computers and digital
applications.
Digitizing services would also allow the fund to better track the
number and type of requests and assess the performance of individual offices,
he said.
Faster health-care payments
Health-care services are a major area targeted for reform. Jamali said
delays in reimbursing medical expenses can create difficulties for retirees who
need to finance subsequent stages of treatment.
The fund plans to use technology and redesigned processes to
accelerate and improve the accuracy of medical reimbursements, while
strengthening controls over treatment costs.
He said the fund is also considering more diverse health-care
contracts and a broader range of services for retirees.
Diversifying beyond energy
The fund is also reviewing its investment strategy, with Jamali
calling for greater diversification beyond the energy sector.
Some energy investments have strategic national importance but may
generate lower returns because government-regulated prices limit their
profitability, he said. Since the fund must generate sufficient resources to
pay pensions, investments should increasingly target sectors with stronger and
more predictable returns.
Potential areas include insurance, banking, support services,
mining and steel, he said.
Jamali also pointed to underused commercial opportunities within the
oil industry, including welfare, catering and recreational services.
Consolidating such activities under specialized companies owned or controlled
by the pension fund could create additional revenue streams, he said.
The creation of a specialized oil-industry bank could offer another
potential source of income, given the large financial flows generated by Iran’s
oil sector, Jamali said.
“The main issue for us is the survival and independence of the fund,”
Jamali said. Financial independence, he added, requires sufficient and
sustainable investment income rather than simply legal or administrative
independence.
Receivables targeted for collection
The fund is also seeking to improve liquidity by collecting
long-standing debts owed by oil-industry companies.
Negotiations with the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution
Company resulted in the recovery of about 5 trillion tomans in
outstanding claims, Jamali said.
Ahvaz Pipe Mills is currently among the fund’s largest debtors, with
outstanding obligations of about 5.5 trillion tomans, he said.
The fund needs to accelerate collections because of its cash-flow
requirements and the scale of its pension commitments, according to Jamali.
About 14 trillion tomans paid
The fund has also made payments related to pension equalization,
Article 10 benefits and two-month advance pension payments.
Jamali said about 14 trillion tomans was paid over a
three-month period for these categories. The number of retirees seeking the
two-month advance increased to about 60,000 this year from roughly
40,000 last year, while the value of requests rose to almost 7 trillion
tomans from about 3 trillion tomans.
The fund also paid a general 20% increase in April, followed by
payments related to equalization and Article 10 benefits, he said.
Jamali credited Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad with supporting the
fund’s reform agenda, saying the ministry’s approach extends beyond the
immediate payment of pensions to include the fund’s long-term sustainability
and financial independence.
The broader strategy is to build a financially stronger pension fund
capable of meeting its obligations while using the economic capacity of Iran’s
oil industry to generate sustainable income and improve retirees’ welfare,
Jamali said.