TEHRAN - Vice President for Science and Technology, Sourena Sattari, said on Monday that embassies play a key role in expanding the country’s high-tech exports.

The ecosystem of innovation and technology should be developed on the basis of diplomacy and foreign relations, IRNA quoted Sattari as saying.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and some other officials in charge of international relations.

In recent years, different steps have been taken, such as launching houses of innovation in several countries, signing agreements, and participating in international exhibitions, in order to expand the market for Iranian-made knowledge-based products, Sattari explained.

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, five houses of innovation and technology have so far been inaugurated in Kenya, China, Russia, Syria, and Turkey.

The centers are mainly formed with the investment and support of the private sector to provide the necessary infrastructure for their exports through the innovation houses.

Mehdi Ghalehnoei, an official with the vice presidency for science and technology, said in February that knowledge-based companies gained about $800 million in revenue from export in the Iranian calendar year ended in March 2021, and the figure was expected to reach up to $2 billion in the year to March 2022.

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.

In his New Year message, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the government and the nation to work hard to boost knowledge-based production and create new jobs.

The Leader reemphasized the importance of boosting domestic production, as he had done in past years, saying the reason he placed so much emphasis on production was “because it boosts economic growth, it creates employment, it reduces inflation, it increases per capita income and it improves public welfare.”

Iran has risen 45 places in the Global Innovation Index, according to the UNESCO 2021 Report.

The Global Innovation Index in Iran from 2015 to 2019 has risen from 106 to 61 with continuous improvement, showing 45 steps growth.

MG