TEHRAN – Today, the country's knowledge-based ecosystem accounts for more than 3 percent of GDP. And the figure is projected to reach 5 percent, however, the main goal is to step toward a 10 percent share in GDP, Sourena Sattari, vice president for science and technology told Fars on Sunday.

Today, the share of knowledge-based companies in the country's economy has exceeded 9 quadrillion rials (about $34 billion), and since 2019, it has experienced a growth of more than 450 percent, he stated.

The knowledge-based ecosystem is a newly-emerged ecosystem but has so far been able to solve many of the country's problems.

In every field where few knowledge-based companies are active, there is the highest import and the greatest impact of sanctions. For example, we have problems in the field of agriculture and food security because the number of knowledge-based companies is not sufficient.

In the field of food security, billions of dollars are spent on importing simple things. While the country has the requisite scientific capacity to solve these problems.

With our high scientific potential and the growth of technology, we should not get to the point where we want to import the food we need. Development of food supply chains is one of the future plans of the vice presidency for science and technology, he further explained.

There have been great developments in non-oil exports in recent years and large companies have sprung up, but we still have a long way to go. The same is true in the field of knowledge-based firms. Today, most of the exports take place in the field of biotech.

Biotechnology in our country is a very creative and innovative nascent ecosystem that is growing and conquering international markets.

Fighting in the economic field and reducing inflation and poverty in the country have two simple solutions. The first solution is to reform the business environment, much of which is to eliminate corruption. The second solution is a tax on the rich. The subsidy solutions that are offered are very short-term and have terrible effects in the long run. The fight against corruption occurs with the development of smart and e-government.

In the past few years, many words such as innovation factory, innovation area, science and technology parks, knowledge-based and creative companies, etc. have been added to the country's science and technology literature. Great achievements have been fulfilled in these years, but in order to deal with these issues, the process must be accelerated.

In order to make a difference in this area, the government can provide incentives to increase private sector investment. This should also happen in areas such as the media.

We have our own capacities and unique innovations. We must note that the way to deal with events that affect our society is not to imitate the methods of other countries; Rather, we must develop our own innovation and, if we are to use the methods of others, localize it according to the structure of our country.

The law of surge in production is also one of the most effective laws that we have been involved in for about 3 years, which is a direction towards the knowledge-based economy and tried to solve the problems during these years.

It is not a solution to all the existing problems, but is a railway for the development of the country for the next 20 years, Sattari said.

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund affiliated with the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology has earmarked a sum of 170 trillion rials (nearly $650 million) to support knowledge-based companies over the past 4 years.

There are currently 6,263 knowledge-based companies operating in the country, offering advanced products and services in various fields of technology to domestic and foreign markets, and some of them have entered international markets, Siavash Maleki, deputy head of the Fund, stated.

The fields of aircraft maintenance, steel, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction.

FB/MG