TEHRAN (Iran News) – Domestic knowledge-based companies to build ICT, electronic equipment for ports. Iranian knowledge-based companies have signed four deals with the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) for manufacturing electronic as well as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) equipment for the country’s ports.
The signing ceremony was attended by the PMO Head Mohammad Rastad as well as the head of the mentioned companies and officials from the country’s maritime industry, IRIB reported on Monday.
According to Rastad, the mentioned projects will be completed and the equipment will be unveiled by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2022).
Speaking in the signing ceremony, Rastad underlined the technological needs of the country’s maritime and port sectors and said: “Currently, fields like ports and commercial maritime shipping have some equipment requirements that we must meet.”
The mentioned equipment is required in areas like port operations, loading and unloading of goods from ships, as well as storage of goods in warehouses, and finally ensuring safety and protection of the marine environment, he explained.
The official noted that PMO has held numerous meetings with the country’s knowledge-based companies for brainstorming on the issues and the technological needs of the ports and maritime sectors and to be able to benefit from their capabilities and capacities in this regard.
According to Rastad, the U.S. sanctions on the industry have acted as a driving force for PMO to push for domestic production of the products needed in the industry and to move toward self-sufficiency.
“We had a lot of problems during the sanctions, many of the foreign manufacturers that had sold equipment to us did not meet their obligations and refused to provide after-sales services, and this caused us a lot of problems in this area,” he said, adding: “We are now moving in a direction where our dependence on foreign products has decreased.”
“In the meetings we had with industrial and knowledge-based companies, they announced their readiness to produce the needed equipment and therefore we are moving towards complete self-sufficiency in port and maritime industries.”
Back in April, Rastad had announced that his organization plans to take all the necessary measures for supporting the companies active in various maritime sectors during the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 21).
“In line with the current year’s motto which is “Production: support and the elimination of obstacles”, PMO has put it on the agenda to provide necessary supports for domestic producers,” he said.
