The director of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in Iran stated that according to latest rankings by the organization the Islamic Republic was among 54 member states and ranks 20th in Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) in the last Iranian calendar year 1387 (ended March 20, 2010).
ISNA news agency quoted Mohammad-Reza Zali on Saturday as saying on the sidelines of the International Entrepreneurship Conference that the most important factor in the organization's report is the TEA criterion which shows the number of 18-64 year-old people hired by entrepreneurs during a 42 months period prior to the report.
He stated that 16 different factors related to entrepreneurial activities are monitored by the organization of which the entrepreneurial intent in the Iranian calendar year of 1387 (March 2008 -March 2009) equaled 37 percent which decreased to 28 percent the next year.
Zali explained that this figure shows that among each 100 people economically active in Iran in 1388, 28 persons had entrepreneurial intent and the shown decline in it was due to the global crisis and its repercussions on the country's economy.