The sales of Pardis Technology Park’s products hit 155 trillion rials ($553.57 million) in the fiscal 2021-22 (ended March 20), according to the head of the tech park.
Mehdi Saffarinia added that the sales of the park, located in east Tehran, registered an annual average growth of 30% and exports are expected to increase, IRNA reported.
“In the field of market technology, we had a specific program last year, because of which a group of technology traders earned revenues exceeding 6 trillion rials by concluding market development contracts for knowledge-based companies,” he said.
“We had a good growth both in the field of market technology services and in the park complex. Although statistics of fiscal 2021-22 pertaining to companies and parks have not been compiled, we expect the market development trend to continue.”
In marketing, the important thing is to connect supply and demand, but the players do not know each other. At times, there’s good demand and an appropriate product, but no agreement.
Saffarinia said currently, 90% of the provinces have technology market offices and by the end of this year, all the provinces will have one.
“With the help of technology brokers, suppliers and customers can identify each other easily,” he said.
He noted that there are 50 private tech firms across the country.
“We will train business and technology brokers and equip them with financial tools so they can perform better,” he added.
The head of Pardis Technology Park had also previously announced the launch of the "Fan Namad” (Tech-Symbol) program to determine the quality of knowledge-based products for the first time in Iran.
"Fan Namad" is one of the programs designed and implemented by the park.
Saffarinia said the quality of products produced by the companies located in the park is being evaluated by this program.
Pardis Technology Park, which operates under the auspices of the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, is managed by a board of trustees that has 14 members.
Tech Ecosystem to Promote Petrochem Development
Pardis Technology Park had earlier signed an agreement with the National Petrochemical Company to help indigenize its technologies, equipment and materials.
During a meeting held at the tech park, Deputy Oil Minister and CEO of NPC Behzad Mohammadi signed a deal with Saffarinia to tap into new technologies for optimizing petrochemical production, IRNA reported.
According to the terms of the agreement, the tech park agreed to introduce domestic tech teams that could contribute to the petrochemical industry’s development.
Saffarinia said the park's authorities will examine NPC's technological gaps, identify capable tech firms, evaluate relevant startups and grant credit guarantees to knowledge-based companies for signing localization contracts with NPC and its subsidiaries.
“Over the past few years, more than 100 knowledge-based companies and startups have expressed willingness to collaborate with the Pardis park to create a specialized tech ecosystem in the oil and energy fields,” he said.
“The current agreement can legitimize the move and lay a solid foundation for the presence of startups in petrochemical industries.”
Amir Vakilzadeh, an NPC official who attended the signing event, stated that the company's collaboration with the technology teams is a win-win situation because they can leverage their business relationships with NPC and its affiliated units to expand their target market while also assisting the petrochemical company in upgrading and localizing its facilities.
“NPC will help establish collaboration between tech firms and different NPC sectors or subsidiaries, maximize utilization of domestic tech potentials, introduce indigenized products and technologies to other domestic petrochemical companies and assist knowledge-based units in implementing innovative projects in collaboration with NPC experts,” he added.
Iran is an energy superpower and its petroleum industry plays an important role in the country’s economy. However, the industry was disrupted by an international embargo from July 2012 through January 2016. Iran plans to invest $500 billion in the oil sector before 2025.
Fiscal Packages Rolled Out for Startups, Tech Firms
Government officials have declared the startup ecosystem to be Iran's future business sector because it has the potential to reduce the country's reliance on natural resource sales and boost economic growth.
Over the last few years, government entities have rolled out more loan and aid packages to assist the sector's expansion.
According to ISNA, financial assistance was recently extended to the startups and technology teams of North Khorasan Province.
As per the agreement signed between the state-backed Iran National Innovation Fund and the provincial research and technology fund, 50 billion rials ($172,400) were allocated to help the region’s startups and tech firms grow.
According to Mehdi Khaleqi, an INIF official, the total worth of aid packages and loans paid to the tech community in North Khorasan did not exceed 7 billion rials ($24,130) in 2019, which have increased to 400 billion rials ($1.37 million) this year.
He emphasized that granting seed money to the nascent technology ecosystem is essential, if they are to boost the local economy and generate jobs.
"Private and state investors should take high investment risks because the country's knowledge-based community has proven to be financially viable enough to recoup the initial outlay," he said.
