Minister: Herbal Plants Can Account for 2% of Iran’s GDP

“Surveys have shown that herbal plants can account for up to 2% of the country's GDP, and this is considered as a good prospect in this industry” Sadatinejad said, addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Sixth Exhibition and Festival of Medicinal Plants in Tehran.

He also stressed the important role of knowledge-based companies in the expansion of this field, saying that this can affect the Iranian people’s health.

Noting that the field of medicinal plants has a high capacity in terms of employment, Sadatinejad said, “There are over 2,000 (medicinal) plant species in our country, and we have not been able to use this opportunity in certain cases but this capacity still exists.”

“Given the fact that the climate and pastures of Iran can be one of these capacities for the growth of herbal plants, it can be concluded that our country enjoys very suitable grounds for the production of medicinal plants,” he added.

Sadatinejad described the main problem of the country as creation of a value chain in the field of herbal plants, and said, “We should focus on this area so that we can achieve high added value.”

“In this regard, we are trying to make a license for the private sector to enable them to create wealth by investing in this field,” he added.

Iran is generally considered as one of the most geographically diverse countries and has 12 separate geographic environments that can host above 7,500 species of plants of which 1,800 are used in medicine.   

Saffron is the crown jewel of Iran’s botanical products. The country produces around 210 tons of saffron each year of which some 70 percent is exported. 

The key consumer markets of Iran’s medicinal herbs in order of import volumes are Pakistan, the UAE, Germany, Japan and China.

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