Tehran, Iran, August 29
Trend:
An official with Iran’s Directorate for Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Presidential Office said the government plans to set up an Energy Technology Center to prop up local startups and knowledge-based firms in the country.
“The center will help start-ups and knowledge-based companies active in the field of energy to expand their markets,” Kambiz Mehdizadeh said on August 29, IRNA news agency reported.
The center will be soon launched with the help of the private sector and investors have voiced interest in setting up the center and establishing its infrastructures, he added.
“The center will prepare the ground for small-scale firms to turn into powerful ones and strongly continue their activities in the country (under new sanctions),” Mehdizadeh noted.
The regulations on applying for knowledge based companies first showed up in Iran’s parliament in 2003, to promote the country’s knowledge economy and the advancement of technology and science in the country.
Companies that successfully get registered as a knowledge based have the luxury of getting special treatments, facilities and governmental grants which include a tempting 15 years of tax exempt, science labs, spaces at techno parks, loans, exempt on import and custom tax and more.
Back in 2013 there were only two active companies that were registered as a knowledge based company. In 2014 a total of 135 were active and by the end of 2015, 1610 active knowledge based companies were active in the country and were privileged with this special treatment.
It should be noted that the US reimposed stiff economic sanctions on Iran on Aug. 6, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic despite statements of deep dismay from European allies, three months after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
A first set of reimposed US sanctions affect financial transactions that involve US dollars, Iran's automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals including gold.
A second batch of US sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank are to be reimposed in early November.
Trump warned that those who don't wind down their economic ties to Iran "risk severe consequences."