TEHRAN – Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Alireza Razm Hosseini on Friday, inaugurated five industrial projects valued at 1.922 trillion rials (about $45.7 million) in the field of home appliances in Isfahan Province central Iran, IRNA reported.

The projects included the expansion and development of production lines for various home appliances including televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and etc.

The inaugurated projects are going to save the country nearly €9.5 million every year and also create direct job opportunities for over 3770 people.

In recent years, the Iranian government has been following a new strategy for supporting domestic production to neutralize the impacts of the U.S. sanctions while reducing the reliance of the economy on oil revenues.

The home appliances sector has not been an exemption and like many other areas, the production of home appliances has witnessed a significant rise in the past two years so that in the previous calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19) this industry’s production capacity increased by 10 percent compared to the preceding year.

In mid-August, the spokesman of Iran’s Home Appliances Manufacturers Union said, “One of the country’s major manufacturers is going to produce 1.5 million of various affordable home appliances and distribute them in the market by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2021).”

According to Hamidreza Ghaznavi, the mentioned appliances include refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, 32 and 43-inch TV sets, and vacuum cleaners.

In early July, Ghaznavi had said that Iran is expected to become an exporter of some home appliance items as of the next Iranian calendar year (starts in March 2021).

“If the currency problems are solved and steel sheets and some petrochemical products are provided for this industry, we will become an exporter of some household appliances by the next year,” he said at the time.

EF/MA