Month: August 2020

According to the Deputy Head of ISIPO Ali Asqar Mosaheb, Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry plans to revive 2,000 idle production units by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2020) of which 1400 units are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME).

“Considering the project’s progress, we are expected to reach the target set in this sector by the end of the year,” Mosaheb told reporters.

Elaborating on ISIPO’s programs for reviving idle SMEs, the official said “Last year, a successful plan for reviving production units was implemented, in which, despite targeting 1,000 units for reactivation, ISIPO was able to bring 1,726 small industrial units back into production.”

Back in August, Deputy Industry Minister Saied Zarandi had announced that the ministry allocated 15 trillion rials (about $357 million) for reviving 2000 idle production units across the country.

“Of the mentioned 2000 units, 1,338 are based in the industrial parks across the country and currently 400 of them are back into operation,” Zarandi had said.
The official also said the ministry plans to support increasing the production capacity of 4,200 production units across the country.

Earlier that month, ISIPO head had also announced that the organization was following major programs in order to revive idle units and to help them to get back into business.

Speaking in a press conference Mohsen Salehinia mentioned some of his organization’s plans for supporting SMEs, noting that the industry ministry was also fully supporting ISIPO’s efforts in this regards.

“Although the SMEs have the potential to provide nearly 900,000 job opportunities across the country, but currently 22 percent of the SMEs are idle and there are only 710,000 people working in active units,” Salehinia said.

ISIPO plans to help revive 1300 idle SMEs by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, Salehinia said.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/441232/ISIPO-revives-600-idle-production-units

Making the remarks during a visit to the northwestern East Azarbaijan Province, Mohsen Salehinia said 1500 inactive production units are set to be revived in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20), of which 90 units will be in East Azarbaijan.

Underlining the importance of domestic production, the official said: “In the current situation of the country, production is very important and by maintaining production we can play a role in the country’s economic growth; therefore, all industrial units are trying to improve production.”

Referring to the support provided by the government for the development of infrastructures in industrial parks, he said: “In order to fulfill the slogan of the surge in production, infrastructure and raw material supply issues must be resolved quickly.”

“Import management and export development are among the most important areas of focus for the Industry Ministry in the year of “surge in production” and we must focus our efforts on this issue to turn the threats posed by U.S. sanctions into new production and export opportunities,” Salehinia said.

According to Mohsen Salehinia, currently, 43,650 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are based in over 800 industrial parks across the country, of which nearly 78 percent or 33,800 are active.

Back in 2019, Salehinia had announced his organization’s long-term plans for supporting the SMEs, noting that the industry ministry fully supports ISIPO’s efforts in this regard.

According to the official, SMEs have the potential to provide nearly 900,000 job opportunities across the country, however, currently 22 percent of the SMEs are idle and there are only 710,000 people working in active units.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/448669/Industrial-parks-should-improve-infrastructure-capacities-for

Agritourism is a relatively new branch of the travel industry in which tourists stay with local people in rural areas. Farm/ranch recreation refers to activities conducted on private agricultural lands, which might include fee-hunting and fishing, overnight stays, educational activities, etc.

The meeting aims at promoting this new branch of tourism as well as discussing its capacities in Tehran province, provincial tourism chief Ali Rafiei said on Saturday.

Geographical diversity in Tehran province has caused agriculture and horticulture to have a high variety, therefore, the development of agricultural tourism can be very successful in this province, the official added.

He also noted that paying attention to agricultural tourism, while preserving gardens and agricultural lands in Tehran province, can provide better situation for the farmers and gardeners and can boost tourism in the region.

Back in June, deputy tourism chief Vali Teymouri announced that permits would be granted to eligible tour operators to launch their agritourism businesses, aiming to set certain standards in a move to ensure the quality of such services in the country.

“In order to develop employment-related areas of tourism, the Tourism Ministry has prepared several guidelines and technical criteria concerning nomadic tourism camps, licenses related to maritime tourism, natural parks, etc., which will create good employment in the future…”, he added.

Some experts believe that in addition to the customer services jobs, agritourism pays special attention to the production sector, saying “For this reason, agricultural tourism is much more important and practical than other branches of tourism because it creates a new chain and diversity in the field of production and services.”

Agritourism and nature-tourism enterprises might include outdoor recreation (fishing, hunting, wildlife study, horseback riding), educational experiences (cannery tours, cooking classes, or tea or coffee tasting), entertainment (harvest festivals or barn dances), hospitality services (farm stays, guided tours, or outfitter services), and on-farm direct sales (u-pick operations or roadside stands).

Agritourism is a subset of a larger industry called rural tourism that includes resorts, off-site farmers’ markets, non-profit agricultural tours, and other leisure and hospitality businesses that attract visitors to the countryside.

Rural tourism, however, differs from agritourism in two ways. First, rural tourism enterprises do not necessarily occur on a farm or ranch, or at an agricultural plant, they do not generate supplemental income for the agricultural enterprise.

To cite an example, we could refer to saffron farms in northeast Iran that are going to fame as a new destination for agritourism. Iranian Saffron is known as the “red gold”, saffron is a magical ingredient in Persian culture, from aromatic foods and colorful desserts to the physical and spiritual medicine.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/451258/Tehran-to-host-online-meeting-on-agritourism

The shipment includes medical equipment including ventilators, thermometers, pulse oximeters, PCR tests, and kits for EIA testing, IRNA reported.

Iran’s humanitarian aid confirms the warm fraternal relations between the two countries based on mutual support. Iran delivered its first shipment of humanitarian aid to the Kyrgyz authorities in May, according to Kyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry announcement.

The first consignment of Iranian medical aid consisted of 357 cartons weighing more than three tons and included medical items, medicines, and personal protective equipment to fight coronavirus.

Humanitarian aid was provided by Iran at the request of the Kyrgyz side in an official ceremony with both countries officials in attendance.

Iran had previously assisted other countries in the fight against the global pandemic.

In late May, a plane carrying medical aid provided by Iranian people and the private sector landed at Kabul airport, which consisted of masks, disinfectants, medical gloves, and hospital supplies and 2,000 coronavirus test kits.

In July, Iran has delivered a consignment of medical equipment weighing one ton to Iraq to help the neighboring country in the coronavirus battle.

Moreover, Iran has sent three million face masks to China and has expressed readiness for providing more medical aid earlier in February.

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran reached 341,070 on Saturday, of whom 19,492 have died and 295,630 recovered so far. Over the past 24 hours, 2,245 new cases of people having the virus have been identified, and 161 died, Sima Sadat Lari ministry of health’s spokesman said.

Currently, 3,911 patients with coronavirus are in critical condition, she added.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/451263/Iran-delivers-second-shipment-of-anti-corona-aid-to-Kyrgyzstan

Due to severe erosion and the collapse of parts of the Safavid- era (1501–1736) fortress, it was in serious danger of destruction and damage, Mahmud Madanian said on Saturday, CHTN reported.

A budget of 2 billion rials (about $50,000) has been allocated to the restoration project, which aims to repair and strengthen the fortress, the official added.

Located seven kilometers east of the city of Na’in, the historical fortress was inscribed on the National Heritage List in 2018.

From ancient to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest.

Fortresses were designed primarily to defend territories in warfare and were also used to solidify rule in a region during peacetime.

Many of the fortifications of the ancient world were built with mud brick, often leaving them no more than mounds of dirt for today’s archaeologists.

Well regarded for its hospitable people, handicrafts, and ancient qanats (manmade subterranean aqueducts that bring water from the mountains), Na’in dates back to nearly 2,000 years, which makes it one of the oldest continuously settled towns in the Iranian plateau.

Na’in is home to one of the oldest mosques in the country. Originally constructed in c. 10th century, Jameh Mosque of Na’in is was one of the first mosques built in Iran and is unusual in that it doesn’t conform to the usual four-iwan pattern of its time (for instance Jameh Mosque of Isfahan).

Na’in lies 170 km north of Yazd and 140 km east of Isfahan. Like much of the Iranian plateau, it has a desert climate, with a maximum temperature of 41 °C in summer, and a minimum of -9 °C in winter

During ancient times, the city was at the junction of a desert road that connected Tabas and Mashhad, it used to be an important crossroad on converging trade routes since Sassanid times.

Na’in was known for its ceramics and textiles; today it’s primarily known for fine hand-knotted carpets and for hand-loomed camel-wool cloaks, which are produced in the neighboring villages.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/451259/Safavid-era-fortress-in-central-Iran-undergoes-restoration

Nezamieh minarets date from 8th century AH (1299 CE – 1397 CE) and they stand tall in the ancient town of Abarkuh, Yazd province, central Iran.

“An urgent restoration plan was commenced on Nezamieh minarets in Tir (the Iranian month started on June 21) and it is now complete by 75 percent,” Abarkuh tourism chief Hamid Moshtaqian announced on Saturday, CHTN reported.

The most important steps have so far been taken in this project to stabilize the brick facade of the minarets, removing worn-out joints, laying and fixing bricks, he explained.

The minarets are located in a historical neighborhood of Abarkuh and they were inscribed on the national cultural heritage list in the year 1312 (1933) under the number 196, the official added.

Minaret, (Arabic: “beacon”) in Islamic religious architecture, is a tower from which the faithful are called to prayer five times each day by a muezzin, or crier. Such a tower is always connected with a mosque and has one or more balconies or open galleries.

Minarets are constructed in a wide variety of forms ranging from thick, squat spiral ramps, to soaring, delicate, pencil-thin spires. Often the minaret is square at the base, where it is attached to the mosque. Above this square base, it may rise in a series of circular, hexagonal, or octagonal stages, each marked by a projecting balcony.

At the top is a bulbous dome, an open pavilion, or a metal-covered cone. The upper parts of the minaret are usually richly decorated with carving. The steps may be internal or external. The number of minarets per mosque also varies, from one to as many as six. These towers were built to be “landmarks of Islam”—to be visible from afar and to stamp a site with Islamic character.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/451271/Restoration-of-Nezamieh-minarets-complete-by-75-percent