A joint venture between MAPNA and Heyat Omana Arzi (HOA - literally: board of trustees) to import essential goods and equipment for local hospitals, was announced by the ministry of health and medical education.
MAPNA is a conglomerate of Iranian companies involved in construction and installation of energy production machinery, including boilers, gas and steam turbines and electrical generators. The Iran Power Plant Projects Management Company (MAPNA) was founded in 1993 with the aim of developing indigenous knowledge production capacity for petroleum facilities, power plants and other industrial facilities, and as a contract management company.
HOA is a private company in Tehran which pursues the following goals in patient treatment: providing the prerequisites to treat patients domestically and eliminating the need for sending them abroad, and reducing foreign scientific and technical dependency in the field of medical treatment.
It is also a supplier of physicians and surgeons and hospital equipment.
HOA head Dr. Hassani, and CEO of MAPNA Dr. Ali-Abadi, signed the agreement on Saturday in the presence of the health minister, reports Mehr News Agency.
“In line with achieving self-sufficiency and resistance economy, we hope to prepare the grounds for transferring science and technology with the help of MAPNA, and thus secure some of the national as well as the regional goals,” said Minister of Health and Medical Education Dr.Hassan Hashemi.
The partnership is a result of six months negotiations between “our colleagues in the economic ministry and MAPNA, and consequently a joint venture will be established, by which HOA will be able to equip and invest on the transfer of technology and manufacturing within the country,” he added.
Hashemi also expressed hope that the partnership would boost local production on par with international standards, to meet a part of the domestic needs in medical equipment.
He said the partnership will lead to the formation of a company in the coming months wherein 51% of the shares would belong to MAPNA and 49% to the HOA; the purpose of the company will be to import equipment and essentials for hospitals across the country.
Involving Private Sector
The contract is in a sense, a new initiative by the health ministry directed at involving the private sector, “as well as a guarantee towards self-sufficiency in line with resistance economy.”
Hashemi said Iran does not produce heavy equipment such as MRI, CT scan, advanced radiology equipment, and linear accelerator used in treatment of cancer patients. “We hope that MAPNA group collaborates with international companies, and are certain that in the future MAPNA can start its line of manufacturing not only for domestic use, but also to supply regional states.”
The partnership aims to meet the needs of the health sector, and especially in establishing technology and job market for Iranian youth,” Dr Ali-Abadi said. It will be implemented in several steps, the first of which is to immediately supply medical equipment; in the next step “we will initiate domestic production of health equipment.”
