TEHRAN - There are 3,639 semi-finished industrial projects with over 80 percent physical progress across Iran, Director General of Planning and Financing Office of the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade Alireza Hadi announced.

According to Hadi, over 119 trillion rials (about $2.833 billion) is needed to be invested in the mentioned projects which can provide job opportunities for 155,000 people, IRNA reported.

The number of projects with physical progress between 60-80 percent is 12,993 993 projects with a total investment of about 289 trillion rials (about $6.88 billion) which can provide jobs for 463,000 people, the official said.

Nearly 19,185 projects also have physical progress between 20-60 percent with 579 trillion rials (about $13.78 billion) of investment and the possibility of employment for 747,000 people are underway across the country, he added.

Hadi put the number of projects with less than 20 percent of progress as 28,909 projects, saying: “The investment needed for these projects is estimated at about 977 trillion rials (about $23.26 billion), which will create employment for 1.092 million people.”

In total, so far 83,780 establishment licenses and more than 74,000 operation licenses have been issued in the country’s industrial sector, according to the official.

The official further noted that currently, the Industry Ministry’s priority is to fund pioneering projects with over 80 percent of physical progress.

Like the previous year, reviving idle units is also another important program that the ministry is pursuing in the current year which has been named the year of “Production:  support and the elimination of obstacles.”

Earlier this month, Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mehdi Sadeqi Niaraki announced that 1,500 idle industrial units were revived in the country during the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

According to Niaraki, over 6,500 new industrial units were also established across the country during the mentioned year which created jobs for over 121,000 people.

EF/MA