According to the public relations and information center of the presidency vice presidency for science and technology affairs, Soorena Satari, the Vice President of Science and Technology, in a meeting with Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, scientific adviser to the Cuban president, declared some of the remarkable achievements gained by Iran, which were not only in the area of nuclear energy, but also in several other fields, including information technology (IT), information and communications technology (ICT), aerospace, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

He also added: “today, there are five million students among 35 million young adults aged 20-40 years in Iran. Several students turn to engineering in Iran and the number of Iranian graduate engineers is equal to those graduated in America. We can focus on the issue of knowledge-based economy by relying on the enormous human resources.”

Referring to the new economic model in the country, Satari expressed: “startups, science and technology parks and venture capital are the new economic models of Iran. For instance, some of the largest regional startups in the area of ICT are held in Iran, and our e-commerce market will reach $80 billion next year.”

The Vice President of Science and Technology pointed out some of the other examples of technology development in Iran, such as export of biotechnological drugs to Russia, detailed nanotechnology courses from school to universities and companies, over 160 companies active in the field of nanotechnology and Iran’s success in the implementation of wastewater treatment projects.

The Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Innovation and Development Fund expressed: “Iran is also ready to present Cuba with a gifted package including educational services related to how to operate the equipment at the lab.” According to Satari, Iran has sealed good agreements with Cuba in the area of biotechnology and is ready to develop technological cooperation with this country in the field of vaccines and recombinant drugs.

Satari also affirmed that new development models are taken into consideration in Iran and some of these models have been observed in Sharif University of Technology and Pardis technology park. Application of these models will be associated with increased profits since the reports have stated that young adults aged under 30 years could create wealth after five course using these models.

According to the Vice President of Science and Technology, the biggest e-commerce company in the Middle East is in Iran. While this company has been only established six years ago, its sales are over $3.5 million in a day, and it is even bigger than similar companies in Russia. The president of Irans National Elites Foundation affirmed: “this type of wealth creation is the result of the new economic plans of Iran, which will be followed in the future.”

During this meeting, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart declared: “Cuba has 25 years of experience in the field of biotechnology and there has been a long-term cooperation between Iran and our country. Today, Cuba has ranked second in the worlds biotechnology revenues.”

According to Castro, 51 years after the revolution they were able to establish a highly advanced center, in which the majority of scientific elites have been trained. He also referred to the details of the center, stating: “this is a complex institute and has recruited 36 companies, 22000 work force and 7000 professors and scientists in order to produce drugs based on biotechnology. This center covers two-thirds of drug needs of Cuba.”

Castro elaborated the achievements Cuba has made in the field of nanotechnology, stating: “since 2006, we were able to partially resolve our nanotechnology needs within the framework of an international study. Recently, the “Center for Advanced Study” has been established in Cuba.”

According to Castro, the next step is to establish nanotechnology facilities in Cuba, alongside with the creation of a science and technology park and a comprehensive laboratory in order to produce and commercialize some of their products. The Cuban Scientific Advisor expressed that Cuban Parliament has provided legislation to facilitate investors from other countries, so that an appropriate environment is provided to interact with other countries, including Iran.

He highlighted the similarities between Iran and Cuba, declaring: “both Iran and Cuba are revolutionary countries and there is a long-term collaboration between them. In addition, friendship, unity and amity between the two leaders have brought the two countries closer in terms of common positions and oppressive sanctions by imperialism.”

Castro has also stated: “the successful and economic model of Iran is also desirable for the Cubans and we hope that we could benefit from Iran’s experiences in this regard. We believe that Iran has been able to achieve good progress in science and technology through relying on their own and proper leading, regardless of the imposed pressures of sanctions on their economy.”

According to Castro, the Vice President of Science and Technology has also contributed to Iran’s technological advances; therefore, Cubans are highly looking forward to working with Iranians.

He was also very pleased with the generous offer of Iran’s leader for establishing a laboratory equipment center in Cuba and extended his thanks to Iran’s leader and Dr. Satari.