Results and Discussion
In order to present a management plan for Iran's
accession to the WTO, the SWOT technique was used.
At first, a list of internal (strengths and weaknesses) and
external (opportunities and threats) factors was developed
by a workgroup consisting of 20 experts with M.Sc. degree
or higher, in fall 2010. According to the expert opinion,
they found a total of 7 strengths and 12 weaknesses as the
internal factors as well as 11 opportunities and 10 threats
as the external factors. In the next step, the IFE and EFE
matrices were developed as presented in Tables 1 and 2.
As Table 1 suggests, the "diversity in fauna and flora"
with a score of0.08 is most important strength factor, and
"low investment by the private sector and foreigners due
to the lack of economic, social, and political security in the
country" is identified as the most important weakness. The
role of private sector participation was also emphasized by
Wallin2001 [14].