TEHRAN – Iran National Innovation Fund has embarked on establishing permanent exhibitions in seven countries to showcase products of domestic knowledge-based companies.

The exhibitions will be set up in Turkey, Syria, Russia, Iraq, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, and India, IRNA quoted Marziyeh Shaverdi, an official with the Fund as saying.

The Fund has held a total of 163 exhibitions overseas since March 2019 in the fields of communication and information technology, oil and gas, health, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, textile, and food industries, she explained.

Knowledge-based companies and creative startups have grown over the past five years, and Iran has risen 45 places in the Global Innovation Index, according to the UNESCO 2021 Report.

The Global Innovation Index in Iran from 2015 to 2019 has risen from 106 to 61 with continuous improvement, showing 45 steps growth.

The development of accelerators and innovation centers over the last five years has led to a rapid increase in startups and knowledge-based companies.

Between 2014 and 2017, exports of knowledge-based goods grew by a factor of five, before slumping in 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015), commonly referred to as the nuclear deal, and re-imposed sanctions.

The increase in exports, as well as their focus and encouragement to increase production and provide knowledge-based services in the country, are examples of this rapid growth.

The report has also mentioned various reforms and legislation designed to remove barriers to competition in the Iranian market, calling it an effective step in providing innovation and significant improvement of science and technology in the Islamic Republic.

The report states that innovation in Iran has developed rapidly over the past five years, and by the end of last year, 49 accelerators and 113 innovation centers had provided services to start-ups with the participation of the private sector.

The Iranian banking system has paid 127.1 trillion rials (about $3.02 billion) of facilities to knowledge-based companies during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21).

According to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) data, the amount of the mentioned facilities, paid to 558 companies, has increased by 247.4 percent compared to the previous year’s same period.

Despite sanctions putting pressure on the country, a unique opportunity was provided for business development and the activity of knowledge-based companies in the country.

Currently, over 7,000 knowledge-based companies are active in the country, manufacturing diverse products to meet the needs of the domestic market while saving large amounts of foreign currency.

The fields of aircraft maintenance, steel, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction.

Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari told the Tehran Times in October 2020 that “U.S. sanctions caused exports of knowledge-based companies to decline three years ago, however, it has returned to growth and is projected to reach the pre-sanctions level of more than $1 billion by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 20, 2021).

Fortunately, last year, companies achieved a record sale of 1.2 quadrillion rials (nearly $28.5 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials), which is expected to increase by 40 percent this year.”

MG