Tehran, SAEDNEWS: Iran’s Minister of Science, Research, and Technology Mohammad-Ali Zolfigol made the remarks in a meeting with his Malian counterpart Amadou Keita on Monday night. Mali’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amadou Keita, heading a delegation of five representatives, visits Iran for talks on mutual cooperation.
The Iranian minister said that enhancement of scientific diplomacy is seen as complementary to public diplomacy, adding that the Islamic Republic has good plans for expansion of scientific and research cooperation with different countries, in particular, those who seek independence.
This sort of collaboration is especially synergistic cooperation, the minister added, noting that in the four decades after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran witnessed numerous scientific advancements and stands at 15th and first ranks in the world and in the West Asia region respectively.
So, Tehran is ready to provide the friendly and brotherly country of Mali with its scientific experiences in attaining success, Zolfigol said.
Iran possesses only one percent of the population of the world, but it has two percent of scientific productions in the globe, he said, arguing that the Islamic country has been among top nations in many scientific fields such as nuclear, defense industries, nanotechnology, biotechnology, chemistry and so on.
Furthermore, Iranians have managed to progress in other scientific sectors like medicine and healthcare, he noted.
Achieving political independence and maintaining the achievement is costly but invaluable, he argued.
Iran had only 170k university students in the last year before the victory of the Islamic Revolution (1978), but presently it has more than 3.2 million, he said, adding that there are also more than 80k academic members in science and research activities.
There are more than 140 universities and tens of research and technology institutes in Iran, the minister noted, mentioning that the Islamic Republic is prepared to assist Mali in setting up universities as well as science and technology parks in order to help African nations grow.
Zolfigol also said that his deputy minister for international affairs will discuss the grounds for cooperation on the coming visit to Mali.
If Malian students are interested in studying in Iranian universities, they should know that Iran will consider them as its own nationals and will provide them with a standard and pleasant situation for education, he added.
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