Tehran- Senior managers of Sadr Tamin Investment Company and ranking officials held a meeting on how to improve production based on knowledge-intensive activities.

Board members of Sadr Tamin Investment Company (known by stock ticker symbol TASSICO), senior managers of its subsidiaries and officials from the presidential deputy for science and technology attended the meeting on May 31.

The meeting was aimed at briefing senior managers on the knowledge-based economy law, which targets increasing products and grants tax credits to those active in the field.

The government of president Ebrahim Raisi was notified of the knowledge-based economy law by the parliament earlier last year, public relations of Sadre Farda Company reported.

The law was expected to open a new chapter to and pave the ground for the knowledge-intensive activities as it envisages a fund (innovation and blossoming) to play the role of central bank of Iran to financially support industries involved in the field. Also, a research fund was to be launched for drafting a regime to monitor performance of the fund by its members.

The law was ratified by the parliament at a time investment was on decline in knowledge-based activities and the budget of research and technology funds had not been increased over the past decade. The law should could have made up for shortages but a report by the parliament’s Research Center showed that such a thing did not happen last year either and the budget allocated to the knowledge-based activities was close to zero.

Sadre Farda Company, a business accelerator, has decided to use the capacities of the enactment for the benefit of the subsidiaries of TASSICO thanks to its deep understanding of the law and thorough knowledge of its tax exemptions and credits.

A meeting was arranged by Sadre Farda Company in TASSICO’s headquarters to help its subsidiaries become familiar with the law and its tax benefits granted to those industries promoting knowledge-based activities.

Hadi Kamali, chief executive of Sadre Farda Company, welcomed the participants, reminding that the company elaborated on potential and generalities of the law during a tour to an innovative factory. This meeting, he said, was needed to clarify the law better with the help of experts of the officials at the presidential deputy for science and technology.

Ali Mahmoudi, TASSICO’s board member, insisted that the law could help industries improve knowledge-based activities, admitting that the sanctions against Iran made it “difficult” or “almost impossible” for Iranian industries to have access to the state-of-the-art technology. 

However, he urged that the Islamic republic could benefit professionally from academic and scientific talents and expertise of thousands Iranian researchers to leave sanctions behind.

“For our part, we have exerted efforts over the past year to move in this path through investment,” he said, regretting that some projects did not bear results as several reasons played role in the failures.  

One of the ways out of sanctions was to turn knowledge into the wealth by supporting knowledge-based businesses and start-ups, Mahmoudi noticed, adding that there were some rare funds to support such projects financially today.  

On tax benefits of the law, Bagheri, an official from the presidential deputy for science and technology, said that the initial philosophy of the predecessors of the enactment was to offer protective rule for knowledge-based industries in their early years of activities and help them survive. He explained that the law was passed to supplement the earlier enactments, which had restricted its protective rules to for knowledge-based companies and business. Now, the law covers not only knowledge-based companies but also any knowledge-intensive activity, he stressed.

Some managers of subsidiaries of TASSICO raised their questions to remove ambiguities surrounding the rules and regulations and to be able to benefit from tax credits granted in the law after speakers finished delivering their speeches.