"Knowledge-Based Exports" Drive Iran's Trade Balance and Soft Power

The head of the Organization for the Development of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation, speaking at a specialized session on exports of knowledge-based products and services, stressed the vital role of this sector in measuring the country's economic progress and called it a tool for consolidating Iran's soft power on the international stage. Hossein Roozbeh made these remarks at the session, held on the occasion of National Day…

The head of the Organization for the Development of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation in the specialized meeting on the export of knowledge-based products and services, while emphasizing the vital role of this field in measuring the country's economic progress, considered it a tool to stabilize Iran's soft power in the international arena.

According to ACT News, in this meeting held on the occasion of the National Export Day, Hossein Rouzbe called the development of knowledge-based exports one of the main indicators of the country's progress and economic capability and added: Exports and international interactions are the most key components of growth and development in today's world.

Taking advantage of rich infrastructure for export leap

Referring to the capabilities of the knowledge-based ecosystem, Rouzbeh said: the knowledge-based field of the Islamic Republic of Iran has high competitive advantages due to its rich infrastructure and specialized human resources. Our knowledge-based companies have the capacity to significantly improve Iran's trade balance, especially in interaction with neighboring countries and global markets, by entering the country's export basket, with the support of competitive prices and high quality products.

stabilization of current markets; The first step of the organization

Referring to the missions of this organization, the head of the Organization for the Development of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation stated: Our organization, relying on its constitution, has prioritized the facilitation of knowledge-based exports. Although we are at the beginning of the process of shaping the executive structures, we are looking to create the necessary platforms to support companies with the close cooperation of the Scientific Vice-Chancellor and other related institutions.

He emphasized: In the current situation, our first step is to stabilize the share of knowledge-based companies in the existing export markets. Considering the limitations and external pressures, this stabilization is considered a great achievement. After that, planning to penetrate new markets and diversify export destinations will be on the agenda.

inter-institutional coordination; A prerequisite for success

Referring to the necessity of synergy between the executive bodies, Rouzbeh said: the macro directions of the country in the past two years indicate the growth of knowledge-based exports; Although this process is far from the ideal speed, the path is quite correct and promising. The full establishment of this path requires more detailed coordination between effective institutions, especially constructive cooperation with the Trade Development Organization, so that the obstacles ahead can be removed with the synergy of the policy maker and the network of knowledge-based companies.

In the end, he pointed out that this organization is fully prepared to pave the way to solve the problems of businessmen and technologists by participating in bilateral and multilateral agreements and provide the basis for the export leap of knowledge-based products.

Mohammad Ali Dehghan Dehnovi, the Director General of the Trade Development Organization of Iran, at the specialized meeting on the export of knowledge-based products and services, which was held today on the occasion of the National Export Day at the place of the Scientific Vice-Chancellor, explained the two key challenges in Iran's non-oil exports and stated: We are facing two main complications in the field of non-oil exports; First, our export volume is still low compared to neighboring countries that have similar potential, and we need to reduce the existing gap with careful planning. The second challenge is the low unit value of export goods.

He added: This deep gap shows the serious need to inject knowledge-based content and advanced technologies into the export basket. Knowledge-based products are the main key to solving this problem due to their high added value.

The Director General of Iran Trade Development Organization stated: The purpose of holding this meeting in the Scientific Vice-Chancellor is to listen to the concerns and plans of the trustees of this field and to create a convergent movement to make the most of the potential of knowledge-based companies in the development of the country's foreign trade. The set of scientific assistants plays a key role in empowering the innovation ecosystem to play an effective role in international markets.

Referring to the necessity of technology penetration in all export layers of the country, he stated: Our expectation from the innovation ecosystem is not only limited to the production of advanced products, but we want a knowledge-based approach to be injected into all export areas, even more traditional goods.

Dehghan Dehnavi, while announcing the full readiness of the Trade Development Organization to cooperate with the vice president's science, technology and knowledge-based economy, noted that coordination, support and alignment of support are our priority. We are ready to pave the way for the entry of knowledge-based and innovative companies into large export fields and use the capacity of the country's large exporters for this synergy so that next year we will see a significant jump in the volume and value of non-oil exports.

At the specialized meeting on the export of knowledge-based products and services, which was held on the occasion of the National Export Day at the place of the Scientific Vice-Chancellor, Toraj Emrai congratulated the technologists in advance and said: knowledge-based export is an honor for companies that have found an opening to supply Iranian knowledge and products to global markets despite all the limitations and bottlenecks.

Registration of 763 million dollars of official exports

The vice president of the development of knowledge-based companies announced the export statistics of this field in 1404 and stated: In 1404, the official export of knowledge-based products reached 763 million dollars, which has grown by 30% compared to last year. Of course, this number is only related to official sources and non-defense areas, and considering the unofficial routes of export that are not registered in customs declarations, it is estimated that the actual capacity of knowledge-based exports is many times higher than this figure.

The leadership of four technological fields in the export of knowledge-based products

Referring to the analysis of export data, Amrai added: Last year, about 1,500 knowledge-based companies imported and 616 companies were active in the field of export, of which 110 companies experienced export for the first time, which is very promising for these companies to enter the difficult field of export.

He added: The studies show that the average value of the "tonnage" of the export of knowledge-based products is several times that of non-knowledge-based industrial products, which indicates the high added value of these products. According to statistics, the four leading fields in knowledge-based exports are: advanced chemical and polymer materials (which is the main leader due to the nature of technology), electricity and electronics, medicine and diagnostic and treatment products, and advanced machinery.

Commitment to supporting top exporters

The deputy of the development of knowledge-based companies emphasized that the government is with the companies to remove export obstacles, and stated: In 1404, 20 knowledge-based companies had exports of more than 10 million dollars, and the top 5 knowledge-based export companies alone accounted for 30% of the total knowledge-based exports, and these companies were in the fields of electricity and energy, medicine and metal industries. Of course, we see that some large companies have not yet activated their export share despite the high turnover in the domestic market, and supporting these capacities to enter global markets is on the agenda. Pasargad Alloy Industries, Iran Transfo, Ariogen Farmed, Pars Molybden Ardakan, and Cinagen Research and Production Company were the top 5 companies in the field of exporting knowledge-based products in 1404.

Emrai also pointed out that, in cooperation with institutions such as the Trade Development Organization, the Scientific Vice-Chancellor has made every effort to facilitate the export path and maintain the target markets so that the share of the knowledge-based economy in the country's non-oil exports will increase in real terms.

In another part of his speech, he analyzed the challenges facing knowledge-based exporters and raised three main axes in this field. The first point was the issue of exporting raw and semi-raw materials, which, stating that the main mission of knowledge bases is to transform raw materials into valuable products, Emrai announced the entry of the scientific deputy to remove the restrictions caused by export crimes in the 7th development plan for these companies.

In the second axis, Amrai addressed the challenge of the approvals and licenses of the destination countries and, pointing to the need for governmental cooperation, announced the readiness of the Scientific Vice-Chancellor to support quality improvement projects and receive global standards by using the capacities of "Article 11 of the Knowledge-Based Production Jump Law" as well as Article 3 of the Knowledge-Based Companies Support Law. Finally, he mentioned the issue of Product Complexity Index (PCI) and stated that the aim of the scientific assistant to improve this index through the penetration of products with complex technology into the target markets is a necessity.

In the final part of his speech, the vice president of the development of knowledge-based companies focused on the operational solution of forming "export consortia".

Emphasizing that the formation of these consortia does not in any way mean the loss of the identity, ownership of technology or the independence of the human resources of the companies, but is a tool for synergy, he noted: joint export companies can facilitate international marketing processes, contracting and delivery, and cross-border support services.