An agreement between the Skolkovo Foundation and Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park) is to be signed during the state visit of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to China on 5 June 2012. President of the Skolkovo Foundation Viktor Vekselberg will sign the document on behalf of Russia, and Director General of the Z-Park Administrative Committee Guo Hong will sign the agreement on behalf of China.
The agreement envisages the creation of a mechanism for collaboration between the two innovation centers. Both Skolkovo and Z-Park will work together in scientific and technological incubators and carry on joint scientific research. It has been decided that they will focus primarily on biomedical technologies, energy efficiency, information technologies and new materials.
«China has made a crucial breakthrough in high technologies in recent years – it has created large technoparks and accumulated abundant experience in introducing new technologies in production», says Viktor Vekselberg. «Furthermore, China is successfully developing its own high technologies, while such companies as Lenovo and Huawei have turned into globally renowned brands. This attests to the success of the Chinese innovation development model and proves that Russia can benefit enormously from innovation cooperation with China. We have held a series of intensive negotiations and completed a lot of groundwork against a very tight schedule to get very close to beginning real collaboration in this sector», the Skolkovo Foundation president concludes.
About the Skolkovo Foundation
The Skolkovo Foundation has the mandate from the Russian Government to help accelerate the transformation of Russia from a resource-intensive to an innovation-based economy through strategic partnerships with leading scientists and corporations (currently numbering almost 500 companies and start-ups). The Foundation aims to strengthen the links between Russian and international science, technology, education, entrepreneurship and investment communities. To achieve this objective it is overseeing the creation of the Skolkovo Innovation Centre composed of five R&D clusters, a Technopark, the Skolkovo Institute of Technology (a new graduate research University established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Skolkovo city, located near Moscow. Together these entities will establish a vibrant eco-system of technology innovation and entrepreneurship. The Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in May 2010 by the Russian Government with a grant of USD 5 billion.
For more information: http://www.sk.ru/en
Contact details:
Seda Pumpyanskaya,
Vice President of the Foundation for International Relations and Communications
Leonid Gankin,
PhD International Relations and Communications Department, Skolkovo Foundation
Office tel. + 7 495 967 0148 (ext. 23.12),
Mobile tel. +7 916 391 59 74, +7 925 226 11 55