TEHRAN - Head of Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization (ISIPO) Ali Rasoulian said Germany is currently holding training courses for Iranian industrial workforces, under the framework of an agreement previously signed between the two countries.

According to Rasoulian, the ISIPO has inked similar agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with South Korea and China as well, IRIB reported on Wednesday.

“These memorandums facilitate both manpower training and the transfer of related technologies into the country,” the official said.

Iran and Germany signed an MOU for cooperation in the training and education of industry managers and entrepreneurs back in October 2018.

“In total, we provide more than 85 services in 25 categories to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in industrial parks, including supporting the presence of Iranian units in foreign international exhibitions and accepting foreign trade delegations in Iran. We also have a plan for branding companies and financing them,” Rasoulian said.

He further mentioned ISIPO’s program for reviving idle industrial units, saying: “last year we had a good performance in reviving stagnant units. Although we had planned to activate 2,000 units, with the help provided, 2,067 units were revived.”

The ISIPO head said that with the activation of the mentioned idle units, 35,000 new jobs were created in the country.

We plan to revive 2,000 idle units in the current year as well, he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rasoulian mentioned other ISIPO programs for supporting units active in industrial parks and zones, saying: “Another plan is to increase the capacity of the units that operate below their capacity. In this regard, we have targeted 3,300 units, and SMEs that have a good marketing and scientific level are the priority,”

The official noted that his organization has allocated two trillion rials (about $7.2 million) in this regard, and is negotiating with the country’s banking system in order for them to provide facilities to SMEs active in industrial parks.

EF/MA