Youstone Website Opens a Door to the World of Stone Export

Youstone website was launched to provide all the information related to the stone industry, factories, mines, and other related businesses together in large-scale for domestic and foreign audiences; the idea which is- in view of its director, Mohammad Rassa- supposed to open a door to international markets for the stone industry of the country. The Youstone site is the first site which comprehensively provides the audience with this information and in this regard, its managers predict that they will achieve a significant success in this field. Lack of information in the view of the stakeholders of this site is one of the major causes of the low contribution of Iran in stone International Market and this site has been created to fill this gap. Read the interview of Economy and Exhibition with Mohammad Rassa:

Which role the Youstone site is supposed to have in stone marketing? 

In our view, this site has opened a door for the industry to the stone international market. We think that if we can implement all the ideas that we have, we will be successful in this field. 

Discuss about the ideas about how to set up this site and services that are supposed to be offered?

Because there is no comprehensive information in the stone industry, we came to the idea of launching a website aimed at informing in this area. This site is a database of stone industry in Iran, a source of information about mines, factories, merchants of stone and service providers as well as  machinery and equipment suppliers. Youstone is the first specialized pioneer of information in stone industry which was launched first in Persian and English and was inaugurated in this exhibition. But until next week, the information will be available to the audience also in Russian language. Also we plan to publish contents until next year into Chinese and Arabic and Italian as well, so that anyone from anywhere in the world could have access to the information about Iran stone. The second element of the site is content that in this section the information related to the world market of stone in target markets and latest technologies of stone industry are offered. Is it probable that a stone industrialist inside the country may not know what quantities the South Korean market has? What kind of stone does it consume? From which countries does it import? Which stones does Brazil produce and to where does it export them? This is the content sector in the site. The third pillar of the site is the service sector. Services that we offer, which electronic services are part of them, are the relationship between members, web advertising and informing members.

Another sector is special services. For example, our offices in China, Italy or South Korea which conduct trade negotiations or provide transport services, insurance services, information about the export is put on the site. That is enough information is comprehensively provided to a miner or exporter or manufacturer.

Fortunately, we don’t have any rival and we offer services to all. Exporters can trust us as much as a miner or manufacturer can. We have also a wide range of minor services such as the introduction of entrepreneurs of stone industry, the introduction of pioneers in stone industry, Encyclopedia of Public Information, introduction of standards and etc. which are of peripheral sectors in site.

When did you start?

The site was inaugurated yesterday simultaneously with opening of the stony industry exhibition. We started our work last year. We registered about 90 percent of mines and 50 percent of factories. We expect that it will take about two years to become a brand.

Do you have in mind development plans for the future? 

Development of services in other countries are of our long-term goals. Since an Iranian businessman needs to get familiar with the international markets, the large companies and factories, we are seeking to establish offices. Our aim is to establish a permanent exhibition in the buyer country.

The issue of branding is of our developmental goals, as no work has already been done on this particular area. Marketing and business services are also important goals. Since we do not exactly know what the market wants, We are seeking to develop mechanisms for accepting orders. We want to identify the large customers and confront them with the stone industry in Iran, so that products or orders will be provided.

What is the effect of this work on growth of the stone industry?

The most important issue is that the field of e-commerce in the country has not yet found its place. The stone industry also has traditional structure. The first step is to upgrade the status of e-commerce in the stone industry of Iran. To the extent that this issue develops, we will be able to give services. We should be able to do something in the next two years so that all stone industry holds this idea that it is a widespread and cheap method. Now in the world, 3 billion and 200 million people have Internet access and there are 7 billion mobile subscribers. In fact, 3 billion and 200 million people can be informed by the internet, so even if the stone industry be put in a general and cheap and fast direction, the way to serve more may be opened.

How do you evaluate the impact of the exhibition on the stone market? 

Unfortunately, since the economic situation is not favorable, the number of participants is low. Perhaps more than 8 thousand companies in the country are involved in the stone industry, including miners, factories, trading and service providing companies. But about 120 participants among these is very low and it must increase. Youstone website can introduce practitioners in the field more inclusively and effectively and at a low cost, and I hope that the prosperity of exhibition exceed in this way.

What is the status of Iran stone industry at the moment?

Unfortunately, the Iran stone industry already has tiny proportion in the world market. Turkey is the fourth stone manufacturer in the world and last year it had two billion and 600 million dollars of income from exports. And its program for 2025 is about 23 billion dollars, while Iran’s share of world market is just 200 million dollars. Stone market is a huge market, but our share of the global market is very low.

Shadi Sirous,

Journal of Economics and Exhibition