Iran, China to strengthen technical cooperation: Science VP
Iran, China to strengthen technical cooperation: Science VP
m.u.h
16/11/2019416
Iran's Vice-President for Scientific and Technological Affairs Sorena Sattari said that Iran is determined to boost technological collaboration with China in defiance of the US sanctions.
Amid the US sanctions, Iran is trying to boost its technology sector instead of oil, and looking for more cooperation with China, Sattari told the Global Times in an exclusive interview in Beijing on Thursday.
Sattari also told the Global Times that "the sanctions are not new, the US has been sanctioning us for 40 years."
Noting that Iran has been shifting its main economic driver from oil to technology, he expressed confidence that Iran has enough talent to boost its development.
The senior official further said that the US sanctions might affect certain sectors in Iran but stressed that basically they offer opportunities for Iran's development.
Sattari noted, "The more pressure from the sanctions in a certain field, the better development could be reached in that field in Iran."
"People normally think Iran is an energy country as it has huge oil and natural gas reserves. That is correct. But since President Hassan Rouhani took office six years ago, we have paid more attention to technological innovation," he added.
Sattari also said that Iran has already been doing well in some fields, such as biotechnology, nanotechnology and aviation, where it would like to have more cooperation with China.
Sattari and his accompanying companies, including 70 Iranian knowledge-based companies, are attending the 2019 China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF).
Sattari said that he was impressed by the rapid development of technology in China and that China's idea and method of connecting schools, cultures and factories can be useful for Iran, too.
Iran would like to use China's ways to make our schools, culture and factories better connected because the Western education system brings about very little connection with society.