A High-Ranking Afghan Delegation, headed by Senior Advisor to Afghanistan’s Budget and Tourism Affairs Visited ICT Park

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Ehsan Chitsaz, Deputy of ICT Park’s Market Development, addressed the young companies, located in the Park, as professionals and said: “the companies located in ICT Park, the young companies, have products, a consolidated and stabilized local and national markets, and aim to have an International presence, looking forward to expand and develop their markets. Most of the companies based in the Park have more than three years of operational record; as ICT Park is not merely a startup Park. Also, in the Park’s accelerator programs, the large and international companies as well as distinguished graduates are also considered as part of ICT Park.”

Dr. Chitsaz introduced the Digital Economy Development Network (TOD) as one of ICT Park’s innovations and emphasized: “a great number of ICT related companies in the country work under the Digital Economy Development Network (TOD). Also, the companies receive various grants for Technology Development, Market Development, and Sprout- creation activities. In other words, the Digital Economy Development Network (TOD) operates in an organized manner and with a focus on ICT Park, across the country.”

The Deputy of ICT Park’s Market Development introduced the Cultural Data Export, Internet of Things application in Food Security, Smart City, and Water Consumption Management Projects as the Park’s accelerator projects and stated: “under these projects, the Park welcomes the participation of international companies and can bestow different Grants. It should be noted that in the past such collaborations have taken place and the companies only need to be affiliated with the Digital Economy Development Network (TOD) to access the available facilities.”

He added: “additionally, specialized labs in two branches of Mashhad and Tehran, such as the Animation Lab, Cloud Services, and the use of Internet of Things in agricultural products, Remote Sensing, UAV Transportation, and Optical Fiber constitute the Park’s activities.”

Finally, Dr. Chitsaz pointed out: “ICT Park can establish Techno-companies in the Afghan Market. Moreover, the cultural and linguistic similarities between Iran and Afghanistan can speed up this task. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a readiness for cooperation with Afghanistan on our behalf, since Afghans are diligent, hardworking, and honorable people and this cooperation can pave the way for value and a beneficial deal.”

Then, considering the growth of the Science and Technology Parks in Iran, Seyyed Reza Hosseini Meisam, Senior Advisor to Afghanistan’s Budget and Tourism Affairs, remarked: “The other countries in the world are also after the creation of welfare in order to support young, educated, and intellectual young forces in enhancement of their plans.”

Hosseini Meisam regarded Iran and Afghanistan as two countries sharing cultural and linguistic similarities and said: “there are many other countries in our region with which Afghanistan has good political and social connections, but Afghanistan's proximity to Iran is very special, in comparison with other countries. Such closeness in relationship is due to the fact that during a certain historical period, Afghanistan and Iran existed in the same geography as the great and civilized country of Iran. The colonial policies then formed the border between the two countries. In other words, Iran and Afghanistan are like one soul in two bodies. Of course, there are various needs in the region that cannot be handled very easily.”

The Senior Advisor to Afghanistan’s Budget and Tourism Affairs viewed the presence of more than 3 million Afghan immigrants in Iran as one of the biggest similarities between the two countries. He stated: “in recent years, Afghanistan has had major developments in the ICT domain, resulting in the presence of 5 to 6 mobile operators beside telecommunications and governmental organizations. This would lead to improvement in the audience’s access to internet in the country.”

He, in the end, concluded: “Afghanistan is facing many problems in terms of infrastructure, but the right decision is to learn from the knowledge of the graduates, students, and activists of the ICT domain for solving those problems.”

Pointing to the capabilities of ICT Park’s Techno-companies, he also expressed his readiness to increase the joint collaborations with these companies and to plan for having additional collective contemplation, aimed at finding operational solutions for these collaborations. 

It must be noted that representatives of Arg, Noor-behineh Gostar Khavarmianeh, and Etesal Sanat Mianeh companies were also participants in this meeting.