Iran has opened five major manufacturing projects in center and east of the country to create some 1,450 permanent jobs amid a new coronavirus pandemic that has caused a rise in jobless claims in many industrial regions.
The projects opened via video conference by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday included two major metals projects in Khorasan Razavi province, located in eastern Iran, and plants for manufacturing home appliances as well as starch and sweeteners in the central province of Isfahan.
The official IRNA agency said in a report that the projects had cost around five trillion rials (nearly $270 million) and would lead to creation of thousands of more jobs on the wider supply and distribution chain.
Two iron mills for production of concentrates and pellets opened in Sangan and Sanabad regions on Thursday would add some 7.5 million metric tons to Iran’s current capacity of iron products output, said the report.
It said the projects have used foreign investment, including in euro and China’s yuan, with reimbursement periods of up to three years.
A factory for producing 300,000 refrigerators per year also came on line in Isfahan’s Murcheh Khvort region where a major Iranian manufacturer has also launched a plant for localized production of home appliance parts.
Reports said another 300 new jobs had been created in Isfahan region by launching a $30-million factory for producing starch and sweeteners.
Iran has kept on expanding its manufacturing sector despite sanctions imposed by the United States which have affected financing and procurement of key machinery.
The expansion has helped Iran offset the impacts of the US sanctions on its oil revenues as the country keeps earning more from exports of manufactured products.
Source: Press TV
