The development of the production and distribution of knowledge-based apparel in Islamic Republic of RAN: Analysis of challenges and Policymaking Packages

The apparel industry is among the income-generating and entrepreneurial ones in the global and national arena. The purpose of this paper is to explain the challenges facing Iran in the production and distribution of clothing and to provide policy packages to solve them. In this research, data were collected through the literature review and semi-directed in-depth interviews and investigated using qualitative content analysis. 191 propositions were classified into 31 sub-categories and rendered to form 6 main categories. The main categories are "resource-based view", "government advocation", "technology and machinery", "effective supply chain", "branding" and "design and fashion". Then, to finalize and validate the challenges and policy packages, focus groups were formed. Among the important challenges are insufficient government intervention and support to play a regulatory role, inefficient supply chain and infrastructure, and weakness in fashion design and presentation. The proposed policy packages can be mentioned as fighting against smuggling, developing a platform for the integration of the apparel chain, creating a comprehensive brand in the field of designing and direct supply of clothing, developing financing tools (capital market, bonds), developing the export of knowledge-based products and services, development of the scale and market of knowledge-based products and services, the application of augmented reality technology in online sales, the creation and development of accelerators and specialized innovation centers, the first production of cost-effective and economical machines and parts, the creation of clothing production industrial centers, and elimination of tax discrimination throughout the apparel.