The Iranian Council of Ministers approved a plan proposed by the Iranian Foreign Ministry in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963, according to which China will open a Consulate General in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan in the south of Iran. This is in accordance with Article 138 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran and in compliance with the relevant laws and regulations. Hormozgan has been cooperating closely with China in various fields, including maritime transport and shipbuilding and many Chinese nationals live and do business in Qeshm Island. The Iran-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was proposed by Chinese President, Xi Jinping during his visit to Tehran in 2016. The aforementioned partnership was recently drafted in March 2021 which would vastly expand Chinese presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects in Iran. The newly elected President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi is willing to implement the Strategic Partnership. Opening a new Consulate is another proof of the deepening of China-Iran exchanges.
It should be noted that Iran also has three consular offices located in different parts of China, including "Shanghai", "Guangzhou" and "Hong Kong".
For the last few weeks, the plan on promotion of knowledge enterprises, the purpose of which is to provide technology parks with facilities in order for knowledge enterprises to easily be able to carry out commercial activities, has been discussed in the open session and is finally ratified by the parliament.
For the first time in 2010, a regulation was drafted to protect the activities of knowledge enterprises. Although the scope of knowledge enterprises activities is constantly in progress, no new regulation has been enacted ever since. Thereby, since the establishment of the eleventh parliament on 24/06/2020, the aforementioned draft to be reviewed by the parliament.
Knowledge enterprises are either private or cooperative institutions which are established and operate in order to develop invention, innovation, and finally commercialize R&Ds in the field of advanced technologies. These corporations do not necessarily produce goods, possess any lands or specific machineries, but rather they provide information by gathering groups of highly educated and proficient people.
According to this plan, knowledge enterprises would be able to invest in venture and private capital funds, and receive tax credit of up to 30% of the value of their investment.
Furthermore, based on this enactment, the judiciary is obliged to establish specialized branch or branches of court and dispute resolution council in order to address cases and disputes regarding scientific and technological issues. The aforementioned branches could mediate between the parties or in case parties come to an agreement, refer them to arbitration. The directive on how to establish such branches, would be notified within six months of the communication of this plan, by the head of the judiciary.
The directive for regulating dispute settlements via arbitration which has been provided in 19 Articles, was communicated to the relative departments for the purposes of Article 116 (a) of the Sixth Five-Year Plan for Economic, Social and Cultural Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran Act, reinforcement of the policies of the judiciary, promotion of the arbitration system as a strategy to develop alternative dispute settlement methods in proceedings, expedition of the procedures and persuading citizens to contribute in dispute settlements.
The purpose of the directive is to establish the arbitration center to promote settlement of disputes via arbitration, making efforts to promote scientific and practical knowledge in matters related to legal and arbitration fields by holding training courses, minimizing arbitration costs and to promote the status of the arbitration system.
Furthermore, according to the directive, necessary steps shall be taken to expand the use of online and electronic arbitration, in order for citizens to benefit from the advantages of methods of dispute settlements.
