Small Enterprises Account for 45% of Iran’s Industrial Jobs

EghtesadOnline: Small businesses account for 52% of the total number of industrial units and 45% of industrial jobs in Iran.

News ID: ۷۵۰۶۲۰

05 August 2020

As of April 19, 23,550 small enterprises across the country provided jobs for 451,609 people, IRNA reported.

A total of 1,047 large production units employed a total of 232,736 people, while 2,146 medium-sized businesses generated 139,079 jobs.

By definition, enterprises run by under 50 workers and under 100 workers are considered small- and medium-sized respectively, while large enterprises are the ones that employ over 100 workers, according to Iran’s Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization.

Affiliated to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, the organization has helped revive 314 recession-hit industrial units across the country from March 20 to July 12 and created 5,623 jobs.

According to Mohsen Salehinia, deputy industries minister and head of ISIPO, metal industries topped the list of revived units with a 27% share, followed by chemical production units with 26%, IRNA reported.

Food and beverage production units account for 18% of the units that are now back on track, he added.

The deputy minister noted that 44 revived units are located in the capital city Tehran. Isfahan with 40 units and West Azarbaijan with 28 units respectively came next.

The Industries Ministry aims to revive 1,500 recession-hit small- and medium-sized enterprises by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2021).

Salehinia further said 46,000 industrial units are operating in 820 industrial towns across the country, 93% of which are considered small, 4% medium and 3% large.

About 35,000 small and large units are also under construction, he added.

$2.1b in Foreign Investment

A total of $2.1 billion worth of investment by 231 foreigners have been made in Iran’s industrial town by March 19, 2020, creating 19,862 jobs.

According to a report by IRNA citing data provided by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, 1,100 small- and medium-sized enterprises are based in industrial towns with annual exports worth $12.64 billion.

Iran’s industrial towns are home to 62 export management companies and 72 export consortiums with annual exports worth $236 million and $352 million, respectively.

By March 19, 2020, a total of 23 memorandums of understanding on cooperation had been finalized between Iranian SMEs and various countries.

Other significant statistics regarding Iranian SMEs by March 19 include the participation of 41,631 companies in domestic and international exhibitions, eight training courses and overseas assignments for 176 industrial managers in Germany in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH, which led to the conclusion of a €180-million contract.