High-tech industrial production has experienced a decline over the past years, despite the growth in other industrial sectors, a report released by Iran’s Islamic Parliament Research Center said. According to the report, the share of high-tech products in the country’s exports has been on the decline.
High technology, often abbreviated to high tech, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology available. Products currently considered high tech are often those that incorporate advanced computer electronics. However, there is no specific class of technology that is high tech—the definition shifts over time—so products known as high-tech in the past may now be considered to have everyday or dated technology.
The research center’s department of energy, industry and mining also reported that the share of high technology products in the country’s total industrial export has decreased from 1.5 percent in 2005 to less than one percent in recent years. Based on the report, the share of high-tech products in total exports was 0.73 percent last year (2013-14) and 0.56 percent in first seven months of the current year (2014-15).
The report also shows that the country’s high-tech exports in 2011-12 amounted to 217.4 million dollars in value, in 2012-13, 177 million dollars and in 2013-14, 184.7 million dollars. Another visible trend within high technology industries was that over the last fourteen years the country’s production in this sector was focused more on pharmaceutical products.
It concluded by saying: “Due to current market trends (reduced export opportunities and markets) and the existing gap between supply and demand (more than 80 percent of efforts have been devoted to pharmaceutical products) in high tech sector, this market cannot expect any improvement in the near future.”
