The aim for formation of an International Council is to introduce products and services to international markets

At   the start of the meeting, Dr. Mohammad Jafar Sedigh, Head of ICT Park, commented on the purpose behind the formation of this Council: “the ICT Park is at the initial stages of the road to  globalization and commercialization , with hardly any   prior experience in this regard. Also, the Techno - companies which are  members of the Park, may not necessarily have much experience with  mechanism of Globalization; therefore, ICT Park’s International  Council has an “advisory” and “strategic” role for the above mentioned items. Additionally, the International Council holds the “legislative” position for approving the relevant plans and guidelines.

In continuation of the meeting, Dr. Ehsan Chitsaz,  Vice-president of the ICT Park’s Market Development, pointed to  responsibilities and potencies of this Council and the axis of the Park’s cooperation with Agent Companies and thus stated: “the formation of the International Council aims at introducing the products and services of the Park’s member companies to  international markets. For this purpose, we first have to identify  products with the potency to appear in  international environments.”

The Need for Planning to Attract “the Export Agents”

According to Dr. Chitsaz, to achieve the Council’s objectives, the existence of “the export agents” in the Park’s target countries is crucial,  the Council should take  necessary measures to identify  competent authorities for cooperating with the Park.

The most important task and authoritative rights of ICT Park’s International Council are revision, evaluation, and approval of the proposed International MOUs by the Park and its  business partners. The next stage, which is inclusive of description of  duties of the Council’s working groups within  the framework of the Council’s large scale tasks, and preparation of  necessary protocols, are considered critical.

Commenting on the Globalization spirit in  trade, Dr. Chitsaz remarked: “in the history of the world, the globalization spirit has never acquired such a desirable and dynamic status. International trade enhances the firms’ sales level and profits, improves their identity and position, and creates jobs. Consequently, business owners can manage seasonal fluctuations by being present in global markets.

Referring to some  major obstacles in the way of enterprises for moving towards an international environment, he further stated: “the preparation of products or services for participating in international markets entails the implementation of the product’s optimization trends in accordance with the target market’s culture, and requires its own procedures. Nonetheless,  the cost of survey, selection, and implementation of these processes is one of the main obstacles for the movement of companies and businesses in this direction.

The Deputy of ICT Park’s Market Development said: “the working groups of the Council are divided into two categories: “International commercialization” and “attraction of Foreign Investment and International Monopoly.” It is also worth mentioning that each of these working groups may consist of five members, and at least one of the Council members must be present in each of these working groups as a  prerequisite.

A Study of the Financial Credit Validity Guideline for supporting  Product Commercialization in the International Market  

The Financial Credit Validity Guideline for supporting  Product Commercialization in the International Market was among the other issues discussed in the first meeting of the International Council.

According to Dr. Chitsaz, this credit is ICT Park’s financial support, under the title  “ Financial Credit for supporting  Product Commercialization in the International Market,” given to all Park’s member companies.

Continuing the meeting, Dr. Abbas Ghanbari, the Communications and International Affairs Advisor to   Head of  ICT Park, and member of the International Council, made a remark  regarding  the “one-year” period determined in the Financial Credit Validity Guideline for Supporting the Product Commercialization in the International Market, : “Twelve months would not be a realistic time for International activity, unless  “content production is the sole purpose. However, if we expect an actual international activity, this period is not practical.”

 He further proceeded  to say: “perhaps a period of one to two years can be more suitable for an increase in time so that  companies would acquire the necessary preparation. It is also possible to prioritize the actions and allocate the initial phase (a timeframe of six months) to studying and identifying the foreign partners.

Finally, The communications and International Relations Advisor to  Head of the Park added: “ considering that the formulation of this guideline is our first experience, it requires more consideration, as, such a guideline could be used as a   template for other Parks, in the future. So, maximum accuracy and delicacy should be followed in the formulation of this guideline.

Another essential point to consider is that the international market has a high risk. Hence, ICT Park should have a prediction for  specific cases, regulate a decision mechanism for this purpose, and study the target country in terms of situation, crisis, and challenges.

The next speech was by, Engr. Mohammadi, CEO of Green Web Company and member of the International Council, affirmed the importance of “education” in the Globalization arena and said: “ twelve months cannot suffice for the completion of an activity and witnessing of  results. Based on the experiences of previous years, the lack of sufficient training and awareness of the companies in the international domain is one of the major problems in this area, which places companies in crisis and leads to their failure.   Therefore, the subject of “education” is of great significance. It is suggested that in this mechanism , individuals complete certain determined courses with required standards to obtain the minimum preparation.

At the end of this meeting and in recapitulating the points discussed, it was decided to continue the discussion on “identification of export agents” and “preparation of the guideline for financial credit for supporting the commercialization of products in international markets”  to  be discussed in the next session.

It should be noted that the Head of ICT Park appointed the Park’s members through issuing certain decrees last week. This council consists of the following members: Dr. Ehsan Chitsaz, Vice-President of ICT Park’s Market Development, Dr. Abbas Ghanbari, Communications and International Affairs advisor to ICT Park, Dr. Mojtabaee, Secretary-General of the country’s guilds, Engr. Jafari, head of ICT Park’s Technology Development, Dr. Mohammadi, CEO of Green Web Company, Engr. Abuyi, the CEO representative of Etesale Sanate Miane Company, and Mr. Kordi, Head of Park’s security.

It’s important to note that the Information and Communication Technology Park (ICT Park) is the first National and specialized Park in the ICT domain, which follows “the Market–Driven Approach.” Thus, commercialization and presence in different techno-markets are amongst the most important prioritized plans of ICT Park.