According to the investment deputy at the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology, with the support of President Hassan Rouhani’s government, “as of March 2014, 120 trillion rials ($2.85 billion) have been invested in this sector by Iranian financial institutions.”
Alireza Daliri further says, “Gaining financial support has always been one of the foremost concerns of knowledge-based companies. In the ongoing year, about 40 to 50 trillion rials [$952 million to $1.19 billion] have been earmarked to be invested in these firms,” CITNA reported.
Token of Hope
Daliri took the given number as a token of hope for the fledgling sector, adding that the dedication and trust demonstrated by financial institutions could further boost the sector in the coming months, according to Financial Tribune.
Knowledge-based firms have been considered by many as a pet project of the incumbent government with the Rouhani administration pointing to the sector as its major strategy to curb the country’s overreliance on oil industries.
Daliri also pointed to crowdfunding as a helpful channel through which the knowledge-based firms can be financed.
The official was speaking at a ceremony over the weekend during which a memorandum of understanding was signed between University of Tehran’s Research and Technology Fund and Iran’s Cooperative Investment Guarantee Fund, which envisages expansion of ties between the two entities.