TEHRAN –The First International Friendly Skills Competition (IFSC) will kick off in the northern province of Golestan on May 11.

Participants from different countries including South Korea, Brazil, Turkmenistan, Malaysia, Ghana, Russia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Singapore, and Japan will compete in the weeklong event, IRIB quoted Mehrdad Azimi, the head of Technical and Vocational Training Organization, as saying.

Mobile application development; Web technologies; IT network System Administration; IT software Solutions for Business; Mechanical Engineering CAD; and Graphic Design Technology will be the subjects of contest.

The event mainly aims to improve the skills of the youths and the workforce through exchanging experiences, learning about national skill standards, encouraging young people to be trained in accordance with their jobs, and facilitating the exchange of information and expertise among professional youths all over the world.

Competitors must be under 22 at the time of competition. Each competitor is accompanied by an expert who will automatically be part of the Jury. A test project will be conducted in English.

Science and Technology development

In February 2023, President Ebrahim Raisi said science and technology are the cornerstones of national development.

The chain of knowledge, research, innovation, and technology ensures sustainable development in the country, he added.

The president made the remarks at the ending ceremony of the 36th Khwarizmi International Festival, the 24th Khwarizmi Youth Award, and the 1st Khwarizmi Innovation and Technology Award, which was held in Tehran, IRNA reported.

“Our religious leaders benefited from the knowledge and advised the society to learn science and wisdom.

They gave a privileged position to wise men, scientists, and researchers and always encouraged someone who was a person of wisdom and thoughtfulness.”

“Our interaction with all nations and governments in the world should be for the transfer of knowledge and technology, and our interaction with all neighboring countries, in the region and globally, should be based on this criterion,” Raisi highlighted.

Innovation, technology ecosystem

The country’s progressing process of development has accelerated with the emphasis on the formation of the technology and innovation ecosystem and the approval of laws for supporting knowledge-based companies and boosting Iran-made products.

Today, we are witnessing the positive effects of adopting the approach in the economy, culture, and daily life of people.

The Vice Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy has reported that the sales of knowledge-based companies in the fiscal year 1400 (March 2021-March 2022) hit 4,000 trillion rials (about $10 billion) compared to the fiscal year 1399, an increase of 86 percent year on year.

Improving the scientific level of society, achieving high global rankings in the number of scientific articles, references, and patenting, reducing the illiteracy rate, and increasing the number of university courses and students are only a part of the achievements after the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

The total number of knowledge-based companies in the country reached 8,368 companies in the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20), showing a 90 percent growth year on year.

"Biotechnology, agriculture, and food industries", "high-tech pharmaceuticals and products for diagnosis and treatment", "advanced materials and products based on chemical technologies", "advanced machinery and equipment", "devices, and medical equipment ", "electricity and electronics", telecommunication", "information technology and computer software", are the fields of activity of the country's knowledge-based companies.

In line with the law enforced on May 24, 2022, knowledge-based production is a priority of the government so the plan for promoting knowledge-based products has progressed well so far.

MT/MG