Iran's Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology is in talks to establish technology hubs in Iraq and Turkey, the two neighboring states, to boost the country's tech exports.
Rouhollah Estiri, the head of the office’s international affairs, said a tech delegation is to visit counterparts in Iraq next week to prepare the ground for opening the tech hub called Iran House of Innovation and Technology (aka iHiT), Mehr News Agency reported.
The official noted that preliminary talks will be held within three months between Iranian and Turkish tech authorities for the project. “Private investors have agreed to finance iHiT project in both target countries,” he added.
The initiative is aimed at strengthening Iran's scientific and economic ties with the target countries, allowing local knowledge-based businesses to market and sell their products.
The centers will offer shared workplace and space for a permanent exhibition to knowledge-based enterprises.
Iranian tech enterprises can utilize the facility to boost cooperation with overseas peers, in addition to marketing their products and finding production partners.
The tech centers will also undertake market research, advertisement, sales and product registration.
Estiri said talks will also be held with Afghan officials for launching such a center, which were put on hold due to the political tensions currently embroiling the country.
The vice presidential office is planning to replicate the project in Russia, Malaysia and Oman.
Iran's most recent experience with building a technology export hub was in Syria in March, following projects in China and Kenya.
The project was implemented in Damascus Free Zone over an area of620 square meters to facilitate the export of Iranian high-tech products and innovative services to Syria.
The tech house project was jointly funded by the vice presidential office and private investors.
According to the office, the establishment of new tech centers in other countries necessitates more government and private sector investment and support.
Since ex-president, Hassan Rouhani, took office in 2013, governmental initiatives extended support to the technology ecosystem and contributed to the development of budding tech teams.
The government hopes the support will help reduce Iran’s dependency on foreign suppliers and transform the oil-based economy to a knowledge-based one.
Export Promotion Initiatives
Tech experts and officials believe that to materialize a self-reliant economy, financial support should be extended to boost knowledge-based exports and develop domestic tech industries.
The state-backed Iran National Innovation Fund is planning to achieve the goal by designing a scheme that offers tech firms four kinds of support, namely loans, warranties, investments and empowerment services.
Siavash Malekifar, a deputy at INIF, said tech firms undertaking international trade can receive financial support, foreign leasing and other services to expand their export market.
“Offering grants worth 800 million rials [$2,880] to firms for attending foreign expos is one of the services offered by the fund to help tech firms develop foreign business ties,” he said.
According to the official, export centers established in foreign countries showed high capacity for introducing Iranian high-tech products in foreign markets.
Malekifar said export centers provide tech firms with shared workplace, the opportunity to employ local professionals for marketing their products in small-scale exhibitions, presenting market analysis and offering sales consultancy, in addition to deploying commercial teams for publicizing the firms and attracting customers.
Improving Sales
Efforts for expanding exports have partially paid off, as domestic tech data show 2020 was a fruitful year for Iran's technology ecosystem.
According to INIF, tech firms earned about $1 billion in exports during the year.
“The revenue was earned by 450 well-developed tech firms,” said Marzieh Shavardi, the head of the fund's Empowerment Office.
“With about 7,000 talented startups and 6,000 knowledge-based businesses, the export value will show an upward trajectory,” the fund’s website quoted her as saying.
In mid-March, Esmaeil Qaderifar, an official with the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology, said the overall sales of Iranian startups and knowledge-based companies in domestic and foreign markets reached 1.8 quadrillion rials ($6.49 billion) in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2021).
Qaderifar added that tech firms' earnings have been rising over the past few years, reaching 1.2 quadrillion rials ($4.33 billion) in the year ending March 2019 and 1.5 quadrillion rials ($5.4 billion) in the fiscal 2019-20 from 600 trillion rials ($2.16 billion) in the fiscal 2017-18.
The official noted that the figures will continue to grow in the current Iranian year.
“The growth has been achieved despite hurdles. The reimposition of US sanctions against Iran in the summer of 2018 and the Covid outbreak in February 2020 have been blessings in disguise for the technology ecosystem,” he said.
Tech firms spearheaded localization efforts while profiting from extensive state support and zero foreign competition.
According to Qaderifar, startups and tech companies, primarily engaged in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and communications technologies, and aerospace, are increasingly gaining a larger share of Iran's economy.
“In addition to tech achievements in transportation, auto manufacturing, mining and steel industries, a large portion of medical and laboratory equipment have been indigenized, and 98% of medicines on the domestic market are produced in Iran,” he said.
“This is the outcome of putting faith in the young, talented generation. We expect the ecosystem to become a game-changer in the domestic economy, reducing Iran's reliance on foreign resources.”
Iran has over five million university students who are a vital element of its development efforts.
Qaderifar said the public and private sectors should take advantage of this opportunity to invest in the young generation to maximize their potential and achieve long-term benefits.
