Uzbekistan to host Iran’s innovation ecosystem

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Companies active in the fields of “agriculture and livestock”, “transportation and logistics”, “industrial machinery and equipment”, “medicine and medical equipment”, “food industry”, “energy”, “Finance and Investment” and “textile” will travel to Uzbekistan and establish Iran’s national pavilion.

The signing of the multilateral agreement on technological cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan, which took place in July with President Ebrahim Raisi in attendance, also shows the strategic importance of strengthening relations between the two countries.

Under the agreement, the two countries pledged to implement joint technology projects for the development of the export of knowledge-based products from Iran to Uzbekistan, as well as the development of joint investment in the field of technological and innovative products.

Another program of this trip was holding an exhibition of 100 Iranian-made products from 80 Iranian knowledge-based firms in Uzbekistan.

Holding specialized meetings for familiarizing Iranian companies with the rules, laws, and regulations of Uzbekistan in the field of registration and follow-up of works in the fields of health and agriculture, and trade were other programs.

Science, technology advancement with knowledge-based ecosystem

Today, the country’s knowledge-based ecosystem accounts for more than 3 percent of GDP. And the figure is projected to reach 5 percent, however, the main goal is to step toward a 10 percent share in GDP, Sattari told Fars on February 13.

The share of knowledge-based companies in the country’s economy has exceeded 9 quadrillion rials (about $34 billion), and since 2019, it has experienced a growth of more than 450 percent, he stated.

The knowledge-based ecosystem is a newly-emerged ecosystem but has so far been able to solve many of the country’s problems.

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund affiliated with the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology has earmarked a sum of 170 trillion rials (nearly $650 million) to support knowledge-based companies over the past 4 years.

There are currently 6,263 knowledge-based companies operating in the country, offering advanced products and services in various fields of technology to domestic and foreign markets, and some of them have entered international markets, Siavash Maleki, deputy head of the Fund, stated.

The fields of aircraft maintenance, steel, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction.

Source: Tehran Times