ICT Park's Membership in the Joint Cooperation Commission Between the Two Countries Was Discussed

At the outset of this meeting, Eng. Akbar Ghanbarpour, Advisor to the Minister and the Acting President of the Information and Communication Technology Park, welcomed the Director-General of the Middle East Region of Senegal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "During the past few years, a great deal of interaction has been centered on African countries and we have particularly established centralized relations with Senegal and Mali," he acknowledged. 
"Iran has 31 provinces and each province has a science and technology Park. Almost 5 years ago, Iran's government decided to provide different ministries with permissions for establishing Technology Parks. As a result, there are 31 Provincial Parks and 4 Specialized Parks that function as subsets to these ministries. Meanwhile, the two main goals of Iran's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and ICT Park are to develop the national information network and develop technologies related to the digital economy; ICT Park's member companies are also working in line with these two goals," continued the Advisor to the Minister and the Acting President of the Park.
Eng. Akbar Ghanbarpour also mentioned the goal of developing new markets for the member companies:  "An important issue that needs to be implemented and dealt with is market development for the companies. Therefore, international market development for the associated companies is also one part of the Park's plans. Hence, ICT Park, in line with its international interaction, aims for three goals, ‘Developing the international market for the Park's member companies and exporting their products’, ‘transferring new technologies to those countries in need of technological advancement’ and ‘sharing our experiences regarding establishing technology Parks with other nations,’" he said.
Then, Dr. Abbas Ghanbari Bagestan, Advisor for ICT Park Communication and International Affairs, presented a general introduction to ICT Park and the history of the meetings held with African countries, especially Senegal: "ICT Park's first communications with Senegal started two years ago in June 2021. We received a request from Senegal Digital Park asking for Iran's experiences in Information and Communication Technology to be transferred to Senegal, and subsequent diplomatic communications were handled through the embassies of both Iran and Senegal. Last year, during his visit to ICT Park, the Ambassador of Senegal asked for ICT Park's presence in the Joint Cooperation Commission of the two countries. We appreciated his request, and this plan proceeded through Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later, since in Iran, the Ministry of Agriculture is considered the Head of the Commission for both countries, we arranged a meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture's Vice-President of International Affairs and asserted our preparation for establishing joint cooperation in the field of I.C.T," he explained.
"In order to strengthen the relations with Senegal, ICT Park tends to prepare its proposals under ICT Park's three main areas of international cooperation that Eng. Ghanbarpour mentioned earlier and send them to the secretariat of both countries in the Joint Cooperation Commission," he continued.
Later, Mr. Othman Diop, Director-General of the Middle East region of Senegal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed his contentment with the strength of the ongoing relations with ICT Park: "As you are aware, Senegal is developing its technological advancements, and compared to Iran, with its 31 provincial Parks and 4 Professional Parks, we are at the beginning of the road because there is only one Park Senegal; hence, we aim to take advantage of your valuable experiences in the field of I.CT," he explained. 
"Considering the three areas of international cooperation that you mentioned, Senegal needs to exchange and obtain further information in this respect; therefore, we expect that the representatives of ICT Park also participate in the next meeting of the Joint Commission so that we can take more practical steps in this regard as soon as possible," continued the Director-General of the Middle East Region of Senegal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Later in the course of this meeting, Dr. Ghanbari Bagestan provided additional information about the Park's activities and its member companies. He also asked the Director-General of the Middle East Region of Senegal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide ICT Park with further information about Senegal's Technology Park and the companies operating in that country so that ICT Park can manage to reorganize its plans of investment in Senegal more efficiently.
In the end, the Director-General of the Middle East Region of Senegal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accompanied by ICT Park's officials, visited Ammanpardaz, Noorbehine Gostar Middle East and ICT Park's Smart Greenhouse.
It should be noted that in this meeting, in this visit, other present members besides Mr. Othman Diop and Eng. Ghanbarpour and Dr. Ghanbari Baghestan, included Mr. Abu Walker, Representative of the Senegalese Embassy in Iran; Mr. Seyed Nasser Ghafari, Head of the Senegal Desk in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Eng. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the Director of ICT Park’s Techno-units’ Development Center, and Eng. Javad Yazdan Panah, the Deputy of ICT Park’s Technology Development.