Iran gov’t backs firms, elites engaged in population growth
An Iranian presidential deputy expressed support on Sunday for companies and intellectuals actively engaged in the country’s population growth.
Ruohollah Dehqani, who serves as the vice president for science, technology and knowledge-based economy, made the remarks after opening “Plus Five,” a center focused on population growth, health, and family.
Dehqani said that achieving the goals outlined in the strategy of population growth requires meeting various criteria, with innovation being a particularly vital factor, ISNA reported.
“Innovation becomes indispensable when conventional methods fail to resolve societal challenges,” he said, adding that “innovation centers,” therefore, serve as platforms for coming up with solutions and tackling problems that cannot be effectively addressed through customary means.
“These centers provide an avenue for… finding innovative solutions in addressing the pressing issue of the population growth.”
Dehqani stressed the importance of strategic planning for the future, given Iran’s fortunate abundance of young individuals.
“The multifaceted nature of this complex issue (population growth) needs diverse approaches to be adopted.”
He highlighted the significance of incorporating the population issue into macro-level dimensions and governance considerations and called for substantial attention and innovative strategies to effectively address the challenges associated with population growth.
While acknowledging that the establishment of Plus Five alone may not yield immediate and rapid changes, the presidential aide expressed confidence that, with proper functioning, the center would help bring about substantial progress.
He noted that Plus Five reflects the concept of Iranian families with a minimum of three children.
With a focus on providing knowledge-based and creative services and products to families, the center aims to create an enabling environment and motivations for raising children. It offers counseling services in the areas of family health, hygiene, and nutrition. Currently, 20 innovative teams have been set up to operate within the center.
One of the primary objectives behind establishing the center is to foster a synergistic platform that leverages the potential of the technological and innovation ecosystem to help boom the Iranian population.