Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting on Tuesday with a group of Iranian manufacturers, industrialists, and notable economic figures at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah in Tehran.

He described the exhibition as “exciting and outstanding”, saying, “I believe that we can introduce this exhibition as an example that displays the scientific and technological prowess of the country.”

“The fact one can clearly see is that the private manufacturing companies of our country have significantly grown,” he added.

The Supreme Leader visited the exhibition, which featured domestic products, especially those developed in knowledge-based companies and production supply chains, on Monday.

He visited the booth of knowledge-based companies in the field of mining and mineral industries as well as the booth of knowledge-based companies in the field of manufacturing electric motors for cars and optimizing energy consumption.

Elsewhere in his Tuesday speech, Ayatollah Khamenei argued that the “very meaningful” growth of the private sector shows that there is a capable and powerful private sector in Iran.

He pointed out that such growth and progress have been achieved in spite of sanctions, adding, “Our private sector is able to bring the country to what we want in the seventh five-year plan, which is an eight percent [economic] growth.”