TEHRAN – A science and technology park will be established jointly by Iran and Uzbekistan in the city of Samarkand.

The park will be created by the private sector, IRNA quoted Rouhollah Dehqani Firouzabadi, the Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-based Economy, as saying.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting in Tashkent with Ibrokhim Abdurakhmonov, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan.

A number of knowledge-based companies and startups will launch the science and technology park, the Iranian official noted.

Preliminary studies and negotiations will start within the next two months, he added.

The Uzbek official, for his part, said that the park will be created in the vicinity of Samarkand University.

Dehqani Firouzabadi has been invited to attend the International Inno-week 2023, being held from October 16 to October 20.

Apart from visiting the exhibition in which 25 Iranian knowledge-based companies are taking part, Dehqani Firouzabadi plans to visit the Iran House of Innovation and Technology in Tashkent, lay the groundwork for concluding several technology contracts, and expanding knowledge-based exports.

The Inno-Week of Uzbekistan has been held annually since 2018. It is attended by local and foreign companies, investors, representatives of foreign diplomatic missions, entrepreneurs, as well as representatives of ministries and departments.

On June 18, the Iran House of Innovation and Technology (iHiT) in the city of Tashkent was inaugurated, aimed at introducing knowledge-based, technological, and creative products of Iran to Uzbekistan, and facilitating scientific interactions and cooperation between the two countries, IRNA reported.

The private sector invested about $4 million to establish the iHiT Tashkent.

The two sides signed a technological cooperation agreement worth $10 million in the field of energy under the support of the house of innovation and technology.

Exporting technological products of Iranian knowledge-based companies is one of the important and key programs of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, and in this regard over the past years, with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, the Iranian houses of innovation have been set up in several countries to develop the global market for knowledge-based products.

These centers have already been set up in countries such as Russia, Turkey, China, Syria, Kenya, Armenia, and Iraq.

MG