Regional Economic Convergence; Review of Developments in Selected Countries within the Region covered by Iran's 20-Year Plan

Iran’s 20-Year Vision, a major document and roadmap for the long-term overall development of the country, was adopted a few years ago. The Vision contains, among others, comparisons with the performance of a select group of countries in the region. As discussed in the present paper, a number of regional countries have achieved in recent years rapid developmental changes in various fields of infrastructure, real economy, environment, and foreign economic relations, especially with regard to foreign investment attraction. These developments have faced most regional countries, especially Iran, with challenges and opportunities. The authors argue in the paper that if Iran fails to make due progress in these fields, it will not only fail to achieve the objectives of the 20-Year Vision, but it will also risk widening of the historical developmental gap which exists between regional and international players. The present paper aims to expound developmental changes in a select group of countries in the region and also compare Iran’s performance with those countries in terms of opportunities, threats and challenges.