TEHRAN- As announced by a provincial official, 105 idle industrial units returned to the production cycle in Khorasan Razavi province in the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

Ali Bahramizadeh, the managing director of the province’s Industrial Parks Company, also said that 84 new industrial units started activity in the industrial parks of the province during the previous year.

As announced by the head of Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization (ISIPO), in the last Iranian calendar year, 1,557 stagnant and semi-active units returned to the production cycle in the industrial parks with a financing of 35 trillion rials (over $833 million), providing employment for 27,000 people.

With the aim of reactivating stagnant units or units that are operating below capacity, 900 consultants from the private sector and knowledge-based companies were selected in the form of industry clinics across the country to recognize the weaknesses of these units, Ali Rasoulian has previously stated.

“Despite the two major challenges of sanctions and coronavirus pandemic, which imposed severe restrictions on the country, we tried to activate domestic capacities by turning to localizing the technology of manufacturing parts and equipment”, he added.

Sanctions have caused problems for financial exchanges and the export of goods to other countries, he said, adding, “The negative effects of coronavirus pandemic on various parts of the country, including industry, are not hidden from anyone, and the economic growth of some countries has reached below zero during this period.”

Iran is proud that despite these restrictions and pressure from these two important challenges, its industry has grown by more than seven percent, according to the statistics and reports from various sectors, the official further highlighted.

Meanwhile, in late September, the ISIPO head announced the allocation of 10,000 hectares of land for the development and construction of industrial parks across the country.

According to Rasoulian, new industrial parks are mainly planned to be constructed in under-developed regions of the country.

The index for development of Industrial parks in the country has increased by five percent, the official stated.

He pointed out that one of the important priorities of the ISIPO is to provide suitable land for establishing industrial parks, adding: “The organization has prepared a plan to provide 10,000 hectares of land for this purpose.”

"Also, to supply electricity to industrial parks and zones, the required hardware and equipment, including posts and transmission lines, have been supplied and constructed in collaboration with the Energy Ministry."

He further noted that the country's industrial parks are currently facing over 2,000 liters of water deficit, saying: “Our approach to compensate for the water shortage is to use municipal wastewater, which we have communicated with the Ministry of Energy to purchase and have started using it in some areas.”

Rasoulian also mentioned the construction of small workshops for companies that do not have a high financial capacity and added: “Last year, 72 workshops were established in the country’s industrial parks and zones, and we hope that our plan for the current year, which was the construction of 1,000 workshops, will play a significant role in creating employment in the country.”

Iran’s industrial parks play a significant role in making the country independent through boosting production, which is a major strategy of Iran to combat the U.S. sanctions.

In fact, strengthening domestic production to achieve self-reliance is the most important program that Iran is following up in its industry sector in a bid to nullify the effects of the U.S. sanctions on its economy.

MA/MA