Abdolnaser Hemati, the head of the central bank, visited knowledge-based companies, startups and the activities carried out by entrepreneurial youth based in Azadi Innovation Factory.

According to the public relations and information center of the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs, Abdolnaser Hemati, the head of the central bank, expressed during the visit of Azadi Innovation Factory: we know the level of significance of knowledge-based companies and startups in the country, and this issue is a priority for the central bank.

Pointing out the efforts made by the central bank in this area, he continued: the government, especially the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs, have made great efforts in this area. In addition, we have dedicated efforts to the improvement of this field. As accelerators are responsible for acceleration of matters in the technology ecosystem in the country, the banking system of the country has attempted to improve this area as well.

He added: fortunately, the level of facilities provided to knowledge-based companies has led to their 52% improvement in 2019. Since the beginning of the year, approximately 70 thousand billion Rials of facilities have been provided to these companies. Every year, about 3.5 billion dollars with a rate of 4200 Tomans are allocated to importing products such as medicine and medical equipment. We hope that the volume of import of these drugs be reduced or completely eliminated by the efforts of Dr. Sattari and the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs and active technological companies of the field.

Reusing a Worn-out Space

Azadi Innovation Factory is established in an area of 18,500 m² in west of Tehran by the efforts of the Vice-Presidency. Completing the second factory in newly formed neighborhood of Tehran is at the final stages. The space of Azadi Innovation Factory was formerly an abandoned factory with a history of 60 years. Before, it was used as a factory to produce welding electrodes. In a macro project, the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs aimed to redefine the environment and turn it into a place for activity of thousands of technology activists with the participation of the private sector. Nine accelerators and innovation centers are based in Azadi Innovation Factory. The center has the capacity to provide space for 500 startups. Since its establishment, it has given space to more than 1000 innovation ecosystem activists.

Each of the factory niches is dedicated to an innovation center or a privately owned accelerator that has chosen a particular technology or field of work as the centerpiece of its startups. Electronic health, tourism, content production, financial and insurance innovation, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are areas where knowledge-based companies and startups based are focused in Azadi Innovation Factory.

Providing cash, types of training, workspace allocation and the ability to connect with a portfolio of investment firms are other services that provided to companies and activists based in Azadi Innovation Factory.