Following a cabinet enactment, executive bodies have been tasked to submit a proposal and specify the role their organization can play in marketing local-made knowledge-based products, said the Vice President for Science and Technology, Sorena Sattari.
The proposal must include new technologies, the goal and the plan and execution method. It should be prepared in a month, he said.
The VP noted that 100 trillion rials ($2.9 billion) will be allocated for the purpose, adding that the government is resolved to help the development of science-based economy and has taken measures to accelerate its growth, ILNA reported.
One of the major challenges faced by Iranian knowledge-based firms is that there is no demand for their products, Sattari said. The government has introduced certain methods to resolve this issue.
“Governmental organizations at times are the direct customers of knowledge-based products, while other products are invested as national developmental projects. Furthermore, the government will be tendering the products and help offer them in foreign markets to boost sales.”
Setting up financial institutions that are specialized in supporting the growth of innovative activities and are willing to accept the risks of producing knowledge-based products is the key to the development of science-based economy, he said.
“The current financial systems available in Iran are not suitable for this matter,” Sattari said.
To this end the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, the Central Bank of Iran and the Planning and Budget Organization are working hand in hand and will prepare a comprehensive proposal which will be submitted to the cabinet in two months.
