Iran’s Islamic Azad University will set up an R&D centre at the Skolkovo innovation centre next year, the two sides agreed at the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two organisations will cooperate in the spheres of energy, oil and gas and medical technology.
Nikolai Grachev, left, shakes on the deal with Azad University's vice president, Ebrahim Vasheghani-Farahani. Photo: Sk.ru
“We expect this agreement to open new opportunities, primarily for our participant startups,” said Nikolai Grachev, head of Skolkovo’s energy cluster, who signed the agreement together with Ebrahim Vasheghani-Farahani, vice president for science and technology at Azad University.
“We are acquiring a strong partner in Iran for the promotion of new technologies. For companies working in key designated areas, this will simplify their entrance onto the Iranian market,” said Grachev.
Vasheghani-Farahani said the agreement would facilitate the development of cooperation between Russia and Iran along with joint projects between the two countries’ tech companies.
Russian oil giants Gazprom Neft and Lukoil have both expressed an interest in taking part in the development of Iranian oil deposits, and Russia’s atomic agency took over the construction of Iran’s first nuclear power plant, which opened in 2011 near the city of Bushehr. The Russian side is a joint operator of the plant.
The private Azad University, which is headquartered in Tehran but has campuses and research centres across the country and abroad, plans to open a representative office at Skolkovo to facilitate technology transfer between the two countries.
“We hope Iranian companies will find it interesting to exchange their experience with us and enter the Russian market with our help,” said Grachev.
A Skolkovo delegation visited Iran at the beginning of this year.