TEHRAN – The vice president for science and technology, Sourena Sattari, will travel to Uzbekistan at the head of a delegation to develop technological and scientific cooperation.On this trip on July 19-22, a group of knowledge-based companies active in the fields of “agricultural inputs and machinery”, “medicine, vaccines, and supplements for animal feed, including livestock, poultry, and aquatic animals”, “food industry” and “health and medical equipment” will accompany him.The delegation covers the areas of agriculture, medicine, animal husbandry, food industry, and health. Organized by the Center for International Interactions of Science and Technology of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology and by the House of Innovation and Technology of Iran (IHIT), the trip can expand Iran's technology market in Uzbekistan and bring Iranian-made products closer to the global market.The Iranian delegation will travel to Uzbekistan to develop Iran’s technology market in the region by holding specialized seminars and business meetings, and visiting the country’s technological and industrial infrastructure, ISNA reported.In February, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov announced readiness to develop technological cooperation with Iran.Good opportunities exist for technological cooperation between the two countries and Uzbekistan is ready to interact with Iran in this field, he said, appreciating Iran’s achievements in the field of technology, innovation, and development of knowledge-based firms.Science, technology advancement with knowledge-based ecosystemToday, 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.FB/MG