Small and medium enterprises of the country will expand cooperation with other states, including South Korea, Germany and China, Iran’s deputy industry, mine and trade minister announced on Thursday.
Ali Rasoulian said that such cooperation is in line with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s move to name the current Iranian year 1401 as the year of knowledge-based production and job creation.
Rasoulian told IRNA that two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed with China during last Iranian year (that ended on March 20, 2022) to expand bilateral cooperation on technology.
He added that the office of Iran’s Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization (ISIPO) was also opened in China’s commercial hub, Shanghai.
The Iranian official noted that work also began last Iranian year on an MoU that had been previously signed with Germany but remained inactive.
He said that a number of managers of Iranian small and medium enterprises will head to Germany this year in line with efforts to boost cooperation with that country’s companies, but did not specify the exact date of their trip.
Rasoulian, who is also the managing director of the ISIPO, elaborated on efforts to support knowledge-based companies.
He said, last Iranian year, these companies were granted long-term loans, while they were also provided with land.
The companies, he added, were also included in a list of firms that were granted some of the 1,400 industrial workshops opened last year.
Rasoulian said that plans have already been made to open more workshops this Iranian year (starte on March 21, 2022), adding that knowledge-based workshops are a priority.
Further in his remarks, the Iranian official said that six technology parks are currently active across the country and permissions have been obtained to set up four more parks.
He explained that his organization has recruited nearly 600 consultants who, among other things, help in developing businesses and making companies knowledge-based.
