TEHRAN - Chairman of the Board of Iranian Industrial Equipment Manufacturers Association (known as SATSA) has said domestic manufacturers have the capacity to indigenize the knowledge for the production of over $5 billion worth of industrial equipment, IRNA reported on Thursday.

According to Amir-Abbas Ekhteraei, currently, only 44 percent of the capacity of Iran's industrial equipment manufacturing units is active, and by providing the necessary infrastructure, all of this capacity can be activated and the country would no longer need to import such equipment.

Mentioning the recent meeting of the country’s industrial equipment manufacturers with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the official expressed hope that this meeting will lead to new developments in the production of industrial equipment.

Expressing that in the meeting with the leader of the Islamic Revolution, a report was presented on the situation of Iran's industrial equipment and machine-building organizations, Ekhteraei said: “Currently, 3,500 companies are active in the design and manufacturing of industrial equipment, machinery, and production lines for the oil, gas, petrochemical, as well as mining and food industries.”

He put the annual turnover of the mentioned companies at $3.2 billion and noted that currently about $8 billion worth of industrial equipment is imported into the country every year, so there is the capacity to indigenize the knowledge for the manufacturing of the other $4.8 billion.

The official further noted that Iranian industrial equipment manufacturers have the capacity to even export to other countries and meet the demands of the neighboring countries in this regard.

He mentioned the regulation of imports, focusing on decision-making, drafting appropriate laws, dealing decisively and quickly with cases of divergence from regulations, balancing the supply and demand, and publishing annual reports on the industry as the most important issues raised in the meeting with the leader of the Islamic Revolution.

EF/MG