TEHRAN – Iranian knowledge-based companies should be present in Iraq’s Kirkuk province to develop trade relations, Saeed Al-Dhakerin, broker of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund in Iraq, has said.

He made the remarks in the 23rd "Sundays for Exports" event of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund (held to help expand the international market for the goods and services of domestic knowledge-based companies).

In this event, a business delegation from the target business markets will meet with these firms, will explain the possibilities and opportunities of their presence in the target country market.

Iraq will establish a permanent Iranian exhibition in Sulaymaniyah city in January 2022. One of the ways to develop trade relations between the two countries is to hold exhibitions, and we intend to open the first permanent Iranian exhibition in Kirkuk, he added.

Knowledge-based firms active in the fields of agriculture, oil, gas, and petrochemicals, machinery, etc. can be present in Kirkuk to develop their international market, he highlighted.

Referring to the establishment of a permanent Iranian exhibition in Sulaymaniyah city in January 2022, Al-Dhakerin stated that Iranian knowledge-based companies can participate in this exhibition to cooperate in various fields of technology.

Consul General of Iran in Iraq Mehdi Shoushtari considered Kirkuk province as one of the most important provinces in Iraq in terms of having huge gas and oil resources and said that this province can create a privileged position in the relations between the two countries and create good opportunities for trade relations.

He further suggested that Iranian knowledge-based companies in the fields of energy, oil and gas, petrochemicals, agriculture, medicine and medical equipment, construction, and industry, can negotiate with the Iraqi parties and use the capacity of cooperation between the two sides.

Shoushtari also announced the presence of 30 knowledge-based firms in the permanent exhibition of Iran in Sulaymaniyah.

Iranian knowledge-based goods to be produced in 7 countries

Iran will launch production lines of knowledge-based products in seven countries, namely Turkey, Armenia, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syria, Iraq, and Kenya, Marzieh Shaverdi, the manager of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, said on December 4.
The Vice Presidency for Science and Technology will provide special support to facilitate export for knowledge-based companies with quality products over the next 6 months.
Exporting technological products of Iranian knowledge-based companies is one of the important and key programs of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, and in this regard, three houses of innovation and technology were inaugurated in Kenya, China and Syria.
And countries like Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are set to host innovation houses in the near future.

Ghalehnoei said in February that last year, knowledge-based companies gained about $800 million in revenue from export, and this year it seems to reach up to $2 billion.

“Africa, neighboring countries, Southeast Asia and Eurasia are our export target priorities, and we hope to create Iranian innovation and technology in all these areas,” he added.

Iranian knowledge-based firms

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund affiliated with the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology has earmarked a sum of 170 trillion rials (nearly $4 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials) to support knowledge-based companies over the past 4 years.

The Vice Presidency for Science and Technology has paved the way for research and production of technological products by supporting 7,000 projects over the past 8 years.

There are currently 6,263 knowledge-based companies operating in the country, offering advanced products and services in various fields of technology to domestic and foreign markets, and some of them have entered international markets, Siavash Maleki, deputy head of the Fund stated.

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.
FB/MG