President Hassan Rouhani launched multiple tech development projects worth 3.84 trillion rials ($15.5 million) on Monday, creating 1,195 jobs nationwide.
Accompanied by Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari, President Rouhani inaugurated the projects via videoconference, the office’s website Isti.ir reported.
The first project coming on stream was a tech house called Behzad (shortened as B), which specializes in art. The house is an upgraded historical building once owned by Hossein Behzad (1894-1968), a prominent Iranian painter. The entire effort was meant to pay homage to the artist.
The house, located in central Tehran, aims to provide a platform for entrepreneurs exploring soft technologies in culture, handicrafts, and art. It also intends to serve as a permanent exhibition and shop selling unique Iranian artworks.
According to officials, tech houses, which are smaller versions of innovation factories, are the driving force behind local entrepreneurship across the country. Such houses are designed to support entrepreneurs whose enterprises are not classified as knowledge-based.
The other project coming on stream was a tech hub and a permanent exhibition of Iranian tech products at Tehran’s International Exhibition Center.
The center is a 3,500-sqm, three-story building, currently accommodating 400 companies showcasing 800 tech products related to machinery, power and communications, transportation, water and renewable energies, agriculture, smart cities, metal industries and culture.
The tech hub is aimed at boosting the export of local innovative items to high-potential foreign markets, as part of the vice presidential office's efforts to expand international tech contacts.
The project is seen as the backbone of Iran's foreign tech hubs built in China and Russia.
Through videoconferencing, Rouhani also launched a science and technology park in Kermanshah Province.
The park, which was built with 650 billion rials ($2.6 million) in state loans and 470 billion rials ($1.9 million) in private investment, is located near academic and research institutes, making it easier for would-be tech startups to interact with university staff and students.
Over 500 startups and tech enterprises will benefit from the 16-story tech center, which spans 20,000 square meters and offers acceleration services, financial support and mentorship.
The president also inaugurated the Iranian National Observatory project, implemented with a state investment of 2 trillion rials ($8 million).
The INO project began preliminary research in 2000 and received a formal permit in 2004. Its facility, covering 8,500 square meters of area, became operational in November 2014.
The facility is located about 500 meters to the south of the 3.4-meter optical telescope named INO340, which is the flagship of the facility.
Iranian scientists see the project as a platform to catch up with scientific and technological developments in the fields of astronomy and cosmology.
Rouhani unveiled a prototype of a domestically manufactured electric bus for urban transit at the end of the event.
The bus is the outcome of collaboration among 17 knowledge-based companies. More tech firms will be required to participate in the vehicle's mass production, according to officials.
In early June, the domestic engineering and energy giant, MAPNA Group, unveiled Iran’s first locally-produced e-bus in the shrine city of Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province.
The vehicle is designed and manufactured by Parsan Electric Bus Production Company, a joint venture between MAPNA and Oghab Afshan Industrial and Manufacturing Company.
MAPNA is also the first local company to set up an electric vehicle charging stations in the country.
Previous Round of Inaugurations
In late March, President Hassan Rouhani had launched several technology development projects worth 34 trillion rials ($135 million).
The first project was a production line of an influenza vaccine with a new formula, developed by the Tehran-based PharMED Salamat Company.
According to the company, the project will not only meet the domestic demand for a flu vaccine, but also create 60 direct and 150 indirect jobs.
Also known as flu shots or flu jabs, influenza vaccines should be developed twice a year, as the influenza virus mutates rapidly.
Another project unveiled was the production line of dairy starters developed by Takgene Zist Company, located in Tehran.
Backed by Lactogen Accelerator Company specialized in biotechnology, Takgene has the capacity to produce two million dairy starter units, meeting over 70% of domestic dairy demand.
Dairy starters are at the heart of fermented milk products, the most crucial component in the manufacture of high-quality fermented milk.
Sharif University Tech Zone was the other project introduced at the event. The zone is located over 250 hectares covering the Sharif University’s surroundings and Sharif Science and Technology Park.
A seven-car subway train designed and developed by three knowledge-based companies was the last project unveiled at the event.
The project, which created over 1,500 direct and indirect jobs, is expected to slash capital flight by $130 million annually.
Thanks to the project, four production units will manufacture 400 wagons per year to facilitate urban subway development.
Statewide Measures
Over the past few years, numerous tech parks and innovation factories have been established throughout the country to offer shared workspace and other facilities to tech units.
There are seven tech parks in Tehran Province, most of which are backed by major Iranian universities, including Tarbiat Modares University, University of Tehran, Sharif University of Technology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University and Islamic Azad University.
These tech parks carry the name of universities backing them. Innovation factories in Tehran, such as Azadi and Highway, have also attracted numerous tech teams and startups.
Azadi Innovation Factory was launched in August 2018 at an abandoned chemicals factory near Azadi Square, west of Tehran. The center is backed by the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology and is managed by Sharif University of Technology.
Highway, the capital's second innovation factory, is under construction. The factory is being established in an old building near Nobonyad Square on the northeastern flank of Tehran.
Tehran is not alone in its push for establishing innovation factories and tech parks. Numerous centers have also been launched across Iran.
The vice presidential office is developing innovation factories in Iranian metropolises like Zanjan, Isfahan, Tabriz, Karaj and Yazd to expand startup and knowledge-based ecosystems.
At the innovation factories, startups and knowledge-based companies find legal, technical and financial assistance to help develop their activities.
With the extension of infrastructural and financial support, those who are active in the tech ecosystem are propelling Iran’s domestic production sector to end the economy’s oil dependency and help overcome sanctions.
