MNA � President Hassan Rouhani on Monday called on domestic companies and entrepreneurs to turn to non-oil exports to tackle hurdles created by sanctions.

Addressing a meeting of senior officials at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare on Monday morning, Rouhani said, �although we are under sanctions, helping resolve people�s problems, especially employees, is our duty.�

He urged the need to promote non-oil sectors saying, �entrepreneurship should focus on non-oil exports.�

Rouhani also highlighted the importance of boosting the quality of domestic brands and goods as something that could help regain people�s confidence and promote employment in the society.

�Unemployment is the main cause of social problems and creating jobs is a national responsibility," the president said, stressing that production of high-quality brands would be a great approach to gain people�s confidence and help create more jobs.

�A worker and an engineer who work well create social confidence and vitality.�

Rouhani stressed that �building confidence between the employer and the employee is one of the most important missions of the labor ministry."

Stating that the employment rates during his presidency have increased to 24 million people from 20.6 million, he said the government is still far from its envisaged plans.

�Knowledge-based services and companies have a huge capacity for employment,� he continued, adding that such enterprises have had billions of dollars of income in 2017, and created over 300,000 jobs in the same year.