TEHRAN – Some 100 investors from 13 countries participated in the 4th Technology Investment Meeting (TIM 2022) of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation held February 21-22 in Tehran.

D-8 includes major Muslim developing countries namely, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Creating the capacity to use the pristine markets of the D8 countries for domestic investors is an important goal of this event.

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund and Pardis Technology Park hosted the event, aiming to address the investment potentials in Islamic developing countries in order to open up an opportunity for foreign and domestic investors.

The investors are negotiating with Iranian knowledge-based companies in an exhibition held in Tehran on Wednesday, which will help the internationalization and development of exports and foreign markets, Siavash Malekifar, deputy head of Innovation and Prosperity Fund said.

The exhibition displays the achievements of 32 international knowledge-based firms that have entered the export market, operating in different fields of information technology, software, hardware, electronics and telecommunications, machinery and health, advanced materials, and chemical technologies, he explained.

Milad Sadrkhanlou, the secretary of TIM, announced that 11 technology investment contracts and agreements worth $10.6 million were signed during the event. The three areas of fintech, health, and information technology were the subject of most agreements and contracts.

One of the main aspects of international investment is the creation of financial and technical infrastructure for knowledge and technology companies, he added. 

Good opportunities, such as abundant manpower alongside cheap knowledge-based and technological products, have attracted foreign investors, despite unilateral sanctions, to consider the Iranian knowledge-based ecosystem.

--------Technology advancement 

Today, the country's knowledge-based ecosystem accounts for more than 3 percent of GDP. And the figure is projected to reach 5 percent, however, the main goal is to step toward a 10 percent share in GDP, Sattari told Fars on February 13.

The share of knowledge-based companies in the country's economy has exceeded 9 quadrillion rials (about $34 billion), and since 2019, it has experienced a growth of more than 450 percent, he stated.

The knowledge-based ecosystem is a newly-emerged ecosystem but has so far been able to solve many of the country's problems.

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund affiliated with the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology has earmarked a sum of 170 trillion rials (nearly $650 million) to support knowledge-based companies over the past 4 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, medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction.

FB/MG