TEHRAN - Iran and Indonesia signed an agreement on Tuesday in order to expand cooperation in different fields of technology.

The agreement was inked during a visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Jakarta.  

In this regard, a delegation comprising representatives of 13 companies has traveled to Indonesia to introduce the capabilities of the country in the health and medical sector.

During the three-day visit, the companies will hold meetings and will participate in specialized exhibitions.

Meanwhile, Jakarta and Tehran have concluded the final stage of negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, the Indonesian Trade Ministry has said.

Trade between Indonesia and Iran amounted to $54.1 million during the first three months of this year.

Last year, the bilateral trade value increased by more than 23 percent to $257.2 million.

Iran modernizes Indonesian healthcare 

Iran promised to help Indonesia modernize its healthcare with surgical robots during a meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Bogor on Tuesday, Jakarta Globe reported.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo hosted a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi at the Bogor Palace to discuss bilateral ties. And health cooperation -- particularly telerobotic surgery -- became a topic during the discussion.

“On health cooperation, we already have pilot projects for telerobotic surgery and telemedicine. We also have telemedicine equipment cooperation taking place in 11 community health centers,” Jokowi told a joint press briefing shortly after the bilateral talks.

“I also spoke of technology transfer and joint production with Indonesian state-owned enterprises [SOEs]. We can also work together on biotechnology and nanotechnology for health, energy, farming, as well as the environment,” Jokowi said.

Both countries inked a contract in 2021 to export Iran-made Sina surgical robots. Iran also agreed to establish two advanced telesurgery centers in Bandung and Yogyakarta, according to the Tehran Times.

Raisi’s visit saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding on regulations related to pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, and traditional medicine. The two nations signed a preferential trade agreement, which would expand market access for Indonesian exports of pharmaceutical products and processed food, to name a few.

Many countries seeking Iranian expertise

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said many countries in the region are asking Iran for help with issues related to health.

Emphasizing that all diseases are currently treated in the country, the minister added: “With the help of scientists, we were able to educate efficient human resources,” ISNA reported.

“With the efforts that have been made during the 44 years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, today we have the strongest health system in the region in such a way that the health indicators in the Islamic Republic are far ahead of other countries in the region.”

All the indicators of health and treatment have made significant progress after the Islamic Revolution, and now Iran is one of the leading countries in this field, Saeed Karimi, the deputy health minister has said.

Health is one of the areas that got a good jump after the Islamic Revolution, ISNA quoted Karimi as saying.

It should be noted that in the early years of the Revolution, even for a cataract, which is a routine ophthalmic operation, the patient was sent abroad, but now patients from abroad come to Iran for the most advanced surgeries, he highlighted.

“At the beginning of the Revolution, there were just 56,000 hospital beds, but now we have 156,000 hospital beds,” he noted.

Meanwhile, there were just seven thousand specialists, but now there are 70 thousand specialists and sub-specialists in the country, he added.

In June 2021, Ahmed al-Mandhari, the World Health Organization director for Eastern Mediterranean Region, said the Islamic Republic of Iran is a role model for primary health care.

For the past four decades, its PHC network has aimed to ensure that people have timely access to affordable, accessible, and acceptable essential health services, he explained.

In October 2021, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain, said that Iran's health system can be a model for other countries in the region, especially in the field of health and the use of valuable forces such as healthcare providers.

The national budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year 1402, which started on March 21, has increased the health sector’s budget by 29 percent compared to the current year’s budget.

Iran expects to increase the exports of medicine to around $200 million in the current year that started on March 21, from some $60 million last year.

A total of 227 knowledge-based firms are supplying medical equipment for health centers across the country, according to the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology.

MG