TEHRAN –During the administration of the late President Ebrahim Raisi, great steps were taken for a knowledge-based ecosystem, resulting in a 64 percent growth of the sector.

When the administration took office in August 2021, the law for boosting knowledge-based production was seriously implemented.

The law, including 20 articles, fosters development across various sectors of the technology and innovation ecosystem from investment and infrastructure sectors to the production of knowledge-based and creative products.

The law has brought about amendments to the existing law to support knowledge-based companies and institutions, removing barriers to competitive production and improving the country's financial system to improve the knowledge-based economy.

Tax exemptions and credits are among the most important components of the law that have had a significant effect in increasing the share of research and development in the GDP in the past two years.

In recent years, the development of the country's knowledge-based ecosystem has become a public demand mainly due to the role played by experts of knowledge-based companies in addressing the country's challenges, including sanctions and providing timely solutions to crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The rise in the number of knowledge-based companies from about 6,000  to nearly 10,000 knowledge-based companies indicates a growth of 64 percent in the knowledge-based ecosystem within two years.

Knowledge-based companies' products from the Iranian year 1399 (2020-2021) to 1401 (2022-2023) increased by about 100 percent reaching $1,132 million from $296 million. The knowledge-based companies' imports also increased by 50 percent from $1,633 million to $3,855 million.

Innovative companies with a share of about 20 percent of all knowledge-based companies, account for  67 percent of income and more than 75 percent of exports and imports. However, technology companies with a share of less than 7 percent have about 30 percent of revenue and over 20 percent of knowledge-based foreign trade.

According to the vice presidency of science, technology and knowledge-based economy, the administration of the late president focused on both quantitative and qualitative expansion of knowledge-based companies exemplified by the change in support and evaluation system for the knowledge-based companies and institutions.

The quantitative development of knowledge-based companies has led to an increase in their employment by 8.4 folds, with more than 420,000 individuals currently working in knowledge-based related jobs.

Instead of focusing on the level of technology development, as in the past, companies are categorized based on economic power so that they can benefit from the support proportion to the size of the company.

It lays the ground for large industrial firms to move towards innovation and technology, and help the country's macroeconomics move in line with global trends towards technology development and innovation.

MT/MG