TEHRAN – Iran and Russia have signed documents to expand cooperation in the fields of communications and information technology.

The documents were inked by Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Issa Zarepour and Russian Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media Minister Maksut Shadayev, IRIB reported on Saturday.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, the Iranian official said Iranian knowledge-based companies will boost their presence in the Russian market.

He added that 18 Iranian companies have reached agreements with Russian companies to develop relations in digital services, communications, software, hardware, and telecommunications.

Iranian and Russian companies have reached agreements to develop relations in digital services, communications, software, hardware, and telecommunications.In May, the Iran-Russia Joint Technology Center was established at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University with the aim of implementing joint projects and developing bilateral technological cooperation.

In this center, 17 projects have been identified by Iranian knowledge-based companies and 5 projects by Russian technology companies. Currently, 7 of these projects are in the contract stage for purchasing, transferring, and exporting technology, as well as joint production in Iran.

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, five houses of innovation and technology were inaugurated in Kenya, China, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, and Iraq.

Iran’s 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, Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science and technology, said in February.

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