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Speaking during a meeting with a Kazakh visiting delegation, Behnam Faramarzian, the director of international transportation and TIR carnet department of Iran Chamber of Commerce, said that the Iranian private sector is ready to launch a regular Ro-Ro shipping line between Khazakhstan’s ports of Aktao and Kuryk and the Iranian northern ports.

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Trade and Integration Kulbatyrov Nurlan, who led that Kazakh delegation to Tehran, said that one of the top priorities of his government is to make use of the transit capacities of Iran.

Noting that Iran and Kazakhstan have targeted a $3 billion annual trade, he said that the Iran’s exports to Kazakhstan are insignificant while the capacities are very high.

He said that one of the main agendas of the visit to Tehran by Kazakhstan’s delegation is to review potentials for trade with Iran and find ways for the problems on the way of exchanges.

Speaking in the meantime, Alireza Yavari, the deputy for international affairs of Iran Chamber of Commerce, said that Kazakhstan is a top priority of Iran for enhancement of trade cooperation.

He said that Iran plans to provide Kazakhstan with facilities in its southern ports so that the country would be able to export its commodities to Far East.

Then Faramarzian, for his part, said that although Iran and Kazakhstan are old members of TIR Carnet Convention, the volume of TIR Carnet between the two countries is low in so far this year out of 3,700 items of road transportation operations, only 119 have been under TIR Carnet process.

He reiterated that unconventional process and ways of trade will take time and it will have no economic justification for the economic enterprises of the two states.

Addressing Nurlan, Faramarzian said that Iran’s southern ports have required infrastructures and they have required facilities for export to or import from Kazakhstan, adding that Kazakhstan has also concentrated on the target markets like Iraq, the UAE, Pakistan, India, Turkey and Turkmenistan and Iran can be a good route for combined transportation and it has a large number of advantages for both sides.

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Speaking to ILNA, Mohammad Reza Modarres Khiabani said that the shipping lines have not received any subsidies from the government but it has improved the condition for transportation of goods despite sanctions.

He went on to say that he is not aware about giving subsidies for operation in the northern ports and said that IRISL is active as the leader of the national marine transportation and other shipping lines are also active in the country and IRISL only accounts for 35% of the shipping market in northern country and other transportation companies have more shares of the market.

Modarres Khiabani reiterated that IRISL has not been paid any subsidy by the government and it has also suffered a lot due to the sanctions problem and the final cost of the shipping services which has been higher than the global prices but since IRISL is obliged to offer competitive rates, it is now active as the leader of transportation in the market.

On completing the IRISL fleet through using the domestic capabilities and capacities, he said that the contract for general cargo ships have been signed and the process for their manufacture has started and it has progressed 20%, adding that the engineering design for ro-ro vessels has completed and the operation for building ro-ro ships has started and in two years the domestic ro-ro will be handed over to IRISL.

On the possible presence of this company in the tender call for operating Chabahar Port, Modarres Khiabani said that the regular line for Chabahar Port-India route has been launched and there is at least one ship is dispatched on this route per week.

He reiterated that last year despite the pandemic, IRISL set a record for transportation of goods, adding that last year the company transported 27m tons of goods and set a new record and in the first quarter of the current year, the company saw 20% growth in transportation of goods.

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One of the priorities of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology is to develop the intelligent transportation ecosystem in the country.

Thus, 9 state-run organizations with 41 sub-sectors and 200 knowledge-based companies, groups, associations, and private and semi-private sectors were identified.

According to this report, since last year (March 2020 – March 2021), over 90 new knowledge-based companies have been identified to work in this field and their total number has reached 290.

Meanwhile, 80 non-knowledge-based but creative companies have also been identified.

Smart transportation is one of the most important components of a smart city to improve the quality of life of citizens and improve sustainability, which more begins with the establishment of necessary infrastructure in the form of a smart transportation network.

The system takes advantage of technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data analytics to manage traffic, improve transportation infrastructure, manage traffic and transportation, enhance transportation infrastructure, and create improved relationships for transportation services.

Technological achievements of Iran

Despite sanctions putting pressure on the country, a unique opportunity was provided for business development and the activity of knowledge-based companies in the country.

Currently, some 7,000 knowledge-based companies are active in the country, manufacturing diverse products to meet the needs of the domestic market while saving large amounts of foreign currency.

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

In recent years, the vice presidency for science and technology has been supporting knowledge-based companies active in the production of sanctioned items.

Iran also implemented a plan to return Iranian elites from the top 100 universities in the world, through the national model, the facilities are provided for their return, by creating technology parks, innovation centers, and factories.

The plan was able to bring back 2,000 Iranian students from the top 100 universities in the world over a three-year period, amounting to 600 people a year.

Vice President for Science and Technology Sourena Sattari told the Tehran Times in October 2020 that “U.S. sanctions caused exports of knowledge-based companies to decline three years ago, however, it has returned to growth and is projected to reach the pre-sanctions level of more than $1 billion by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 20).

Fortunately, last year, companies achieved a record sale of 1.2 quadrillion rials (nearly $28.5 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials), which is expected to increase by 40 percent this year.”

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Kuneva met Chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Mr. Gholam-Hossein Shafei and during the meeting both sides explored ways for boosting cooperation between the two states.

Kuneva went on to say that Tehran and Sofia have good relations and Bulgaria’s Embassy in Tehran tries to provide the grounds for boosting the bilateral ties more than eve, and it also tries the talks between the two countries not to be halted.

She went on to say that in 2019, the trade volume between Iran and Bulgaria was $80m and the figure rose to $120m in 2020 and of course, this amount should increase more.

Kuneva noted that before the outbreak of the COVID-19, annually between 10,000 to 20,000 Iranian tourists visited Bulgaria and even now Iranian tourists who are vaccinated can travel to Bulgaria.

She also referred to the cooperation in the field of transportation which has been always active, and emphasized Bulgaria welcomes the launch of the direct flight between Tehran and Sofia.

Meanwhile Shafei, for his part, referred to the current relation between Iran and Bulgaria and said the relation is in a good level so that economic cooperation between provinces of the two countries has been shaped. He stated of course the trade volume between Tehran and Sofia has decreased during the sanctions era comparing to the pre-sanctions but the relation has still continued.

He then pointed to the features and position of Bulgaria’s economy and said Bulgaria has a free economy and it has helped the country to enjoy good growth, adding that the major trade between Iran and Bulgaria has been in the field of transportation, and by the way, Bulgaria has a good tourist attraction for Iranians.

Shafei emphasized that tourism is a good ground for economic cooperation and the problems in this field should be resolved, adding that these two countries due to their good capacities can also be good trade partners.

He went on to say that geographically, Bulgarian can be a gateway for Iran’s presence in the Eastern European countries and the Balkan states as the markets in Bulgaria’s surrounding are important markets.

Shafei went on to say that Iran and Bulgaria had already had cooperation in the fields of auto industry and auto part manufacturing and this opportunity still exists. He said that Bulgaria has good opportunity for cooperation for Iranians in the field of food industries and agriculture, and by the way, Iran is challenging with constant droughts and using modern irrigation system is very vital for Iran.

He expressed hope that in the future the trade volume between Iran and Bulgaria would rise to a considerable amount.

Then head of the international affairs of ICCIMA Mr. Mohammad Reza Karbasi, for his part, said that since the U.S. pullout from the JCPOA, Bulgaria has been the only country which has held its joint economic commission meeting with Iran in the ministerial level.

He added in the meeting , some good agreements were reached and nine documents on cooperation were signed and launching the direct flight between Tehran and Sofia was one of the agreements.

At the end of the meeting, Kuneva called for the meeting of the heads of the chambers of commerce of Iran and Bulgaria in the near future in order to explore technically ways of boosting economic cooperation between the two countries.

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The chopper is employed in those activities that need pace in transportation or in passing from the traffic and above all in the relocation of facilities out of the urban areas, and this is just some part of understandable necessity in the industrial management. When you can make cars, you are easily able to make various kinds of choppers with various applications.

Fortunately recently in the news, it has been reported that the CEO of the Iran Aviation Industries Organization of Defense Ministry Mr. Amir Khajehfard has said, “Manufacture of a chopper named Saba is in the design and manufacture stage.” He has said Saba is a powerful chopper that can meet the needs of the country and also the Islamic and friendly countries in the best way. Khajehfard added that the manufacture of Saba is in line with supporting the domestic production, national authority and move on course to materialize resistance economy, and reiterated implementation of this project will lay the ground for activating the wheel of industry, creating incentive among producers and craftsmen in the chain of provision and improving the condition of occupation.

Khajehfard by pointing to the history of PANHA Company (acronym of Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company) in the country says, “The background and history of PANHA date back to 50 years ago and ever since the company has done great and important valuable services in different fields. Iran is the biggest fleet in the region and ranks third in the world after the U.S. and Russia in terms of its military helicopter fleet and PANHA despite all restrictions and sanctions has been able to support and supply equipment and renew this broad and diverse fleet.

Speaking in a meeting on the synergy for adopting important decisions for entering the mass production of Saba choppers he explained, “Today we have gathered here to organize utilization of an indigenous chopper in a different organization which has passed successfully different stages of tests in order to meet the needs of the country in the helicopter field. All of us are fully aware that we have roles in forming the future of production, development, and using a domestic production; all of us talk about production but if we have no products in any industry, we cannot attain development and sustainable progress. Production of air equipment and using it is an issue that always exists and after the production, both support and after-production services are very important and considerable.”

He added, “Legal support and earmarking budget for developing helicopter industries is very vital and through cooperation and support and, of course, expansion of cooperation, one can bring together some knowledge-based companies, and develop the production of the helicopter and required equipment, and this issue needs government and Majlis support.”

Khajehfard also pointed to the broadness of land as well as geography and climate of the country and said that he believes helicopter is one of the essential needs of Red Crescent and Relief and Rescue organizations of the country that by operationalizing the project of national helicopter Saba production, a major part of the national need of the country will be met.

He believes research is a prerequisite of sustainable development and emphasizes that there is the capability of making chopper in the country and with the support of the related organizations, they can meet the needs of the company in this regard. He adds, ”We should expand the manufacture of relief and rescue helicopters in the country and Saba is a powerful chopper that meets the demands of the country as well as the Islamic and friendly countries.

The ceremony for signing the covenant of the Strategic Council for Producing National Helicopter Saba 248 production line was held at PANHA Company in presence of Khajehfard, Head of Center for Progress and Development of Iran Mr. Sirous Vatankhah, Head of Majlis Energy Commission Ferydoon Abbasi-Davani, Head of Helicopter Emergency Service Mohammad Sarvar, Vice President for Flight Standards at Civil Aviation Organization Mr. Arash Khodaei, Secretary of Headquarters for Developing  Space Technologies and Advanced Transportation Mr. Manouchehr Manteghi, Managing Director of PANHA Captain Mojtaba Rouhani and some of the officials. This event gives the public the good news that the brave veterans of the country are thinking of the high horizons that Islamic Iran could never be dependent on the help of others in providing its strategic needs.

Necessities of sustainable development in any country need independent-seeking thoughts, minds, and ambition, and the most valuable blessing that the Islamic Revolution has presented to the Iranian people is this very self-esteem.

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The country’s Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) has envisaged that the railway will account for at least 30 percent of cargo transportation and 20 percent of passenger transportation in the country.

Such target requires at least 850 trillion rials (about $20.238 billion) of investment.

The required investment and also the necessity of empowering domestic production have led the government to take the advantage of private sector’s capabilities.

Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI) has been witnessing private sector’s high contribution to development of railway sector in different fields from building rails to manufacturing locomotives and wagons in the past few years.

Last year, during the 6th International Exhibition of Rail Transportation, Related Industries and Equipment of Iran, dubbed RAILEXPO 2018, the country unveiled the first ever Iranian-made locomotive engine.

And then in mid-June of this year, Mapna Group unveiled the first Iranian-made freight locomotive on the sidelines of the 7th edition of the mentioned exhibition.

In early August, RAI Head Saeed Rasouli said that domestic manufacturers are set to supply over 1,000 locomotives and wagons and also 40,000 tons of rails to RAI by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2021).

He said: “After Mapna Group unveiled their first Iranian-made freight locomotive, RAI ordered the company to manufacture a series of freight and passenger wagons and locomotives, which their production will begin soon.”

“Mapna will soon begin the manufacturing process and the wagons will gradually enter the country’s rail fleet within the next two years,” Rasouli said.

He also mentioned the manufacturing of rail segments in the country (in a project called National Rail) saying the manufacturing of national rail is also underway and the country is self-sufficient in this regard.

And during a ceremony on Tuesday, some 213 new domestically-made locomotives and wagons were added to the railway fleet of the country.

While contributing to manufacturing of locomotives and wagons, private sector is also acting well in renovation projects.

As the passenger wing of RAI, Iranian Raja Railway Transport Company has signed deals with three domestic companies namely Wagon Pars Company, Novin Sanat Raja Company and Ehya Sanat Co. for renovating 124 passenger wagons that are over 30 years old.

Raja has also signed a deal with Wagon Pars Company for manufacturing of 41 passenger wagons, of which 33 wagons have been handed to Raja.

All the mentioned measures signify the high involvement of private sector in the railway development, but as the country already lags behind its objective for the railway sector envisaged in the Sixth National Development Plan, more contribution of private sector is required both to investment making and to manufacturing.

And it is an issue that according to the experts of transportation sector requires Ministry of Transport and also RAI to review their policies and regulations for more presence of the private sector.

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There are also regular bus services on the routes of Mashhad to Afghanistan’s Herat, Mashhad to Pakistan and Mashhad to Iraq , he added.

A MoU has recently been signed between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan to launch a regular passenger bus service, Mohammadi mentioned.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Turkey was the most popular overseas destination for Iranian travelers in 2018, accounting for 41% of all visits abroad.

Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, the eastern province of Van and the southern province of Antalya are the most popular destinations for Iranian vacationers.

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