Under the leadership of the Research and Technology Fund of Shahid Beheshti University (SBU), knowledge-based companies attended the Iranian national pavilion of INNO WEEK event in Uzbekistan.
The Iranian business and technology delegation was sent to Uzbekistan in the last week of Mehr this year by the Research and Technology Fund of SBU with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology and the Presidential Innovation and Prosperity Fund.
Dr. Fereidoun Sadeghi, CEO of the Research and Technology Fund of SBU announced this news and said: “More than 30 knowledge-based companies active in various fields, including agriculture and animal husbandry to transportation, machinery, industrial equipment, medicine, medical equipment, food industry, textile, finance and investment left for Uzbekistan as a business and technology delegation. The delegation was dispatched at the same time as the Innovation Week of Uzbekistan in Tashkent. A matchmaking team accompanied the delegation, which found the corresponding teams with the teams of the Iranian knowledge-based companies and provided the necessary preparations for holding B2B (Business to Business) meetings.
Dr. Sadeghi considered this event a valuable opportunity for the companies and added: “One of the 
key features of this event is the presence of mature and experienced knowledge-based companies, which attracted the attention of the visitors. Thus, following the visit of the Minister of Innovation of Uzbekistan and the accompanying delegation as well as other managers and deputies of this ministry, a memorandum of understanding and a contract worth about 11 billion dollars were signed with 15 Iranian companies present at the location of the Iranian delegation.”
He pointed out that these events can be a good opportunity for the knowledge-based companies to achieve commercial achievements in Uzbekistan, which has announced its readiness for serious investments in the fields of research and technology.
Dr. Sadeghi considered the selection of Research and Technology Fund of SBU to lead the delegation as a great success for this fund and stated: “The selection of the Research and Technology Fund as a young group to send a business and technology delegation by the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology and the Presidential Innovation and Prosperity Fund show that our fund can be trusted and this is a great honor for us.”
He added: “During the Innovation Week of Uzbekistan, serious B2B negotiations took place along with the exhibition. One of our most important achievements in this event was that, following the dispatch of this business delegation, we were assigned the responsibility of creating and setting up the Iranian House of Innovation and Technology in Uzbekistan. The Iranian House of Innovation and Technology has been established for several years in different countries including China, Russia, Kenya and Turkey. Negotiations are underway with the Center for International Interactions of the Presidential Vice Presidency for Science and Technology to launch this center in Uzbekistan, and we hope to be able to launch this center in the near future as a base for knowledge-based companies and to realize the goal of export development in Uzbekistan.”
Appreciating and thanking the support of Dr. Nasiri, president of SBU, and Dr. Masoudi, head of the 
Science and Technology Park of SBU and the role of this support in advancing the anticipated goals, Dr. Sadeghi said: “From the time of registration of the applicant companies to attend this event until the dispatch of the business and technology delegation, we didn't have much time. Notification and registration started on the 30th of September. About 158 knowledge-based companies announced their readiness to be dispatched to Uzbekistan, of which about 40 companies were selected from Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd and other cities. SBU is one of the shareholders of the Research and Technology Fund, and the establishment of this fund in the ecosystem of innovation and technology of the university, i.e. the Science and Technology Park of SBU shows that this fund enjoys their support. If it were not for the support of SBU, its Science and Technology Park and other respected stakeholders, we would not have been able to make progress in this fund.”