Iranian Minister of Information and Communication Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi in a meeting with Armenian Ambassador in Tehran Grigor Hakobyan said artificial intelligence, traffic transit and the space industry are proper fields for bilateral cooperation.
Hashemi pointed to the common
civilizational and historical roots between Iran and Armenia which have
provided a suitable basis for promoting cooperation between the two countries.
“Our countries are committed and determined to develop relations and
cooperation in all fields, specially in the field of ICT.”
He introduced technology
diplomacy as one of the plans of the ICT ministry and said, “Iran’s neighboring
countries are prioritized in this plan. We are paying special attention to the
relations between Iran and Armenia.”
He also introduced the plans for
developing communication infrastructure in the country and data traffic transit
from west to east and north to south, and referred to Iran Corridor forum in
Dubai as implementation of this policy.
"In this meeting, the
possibility of providing traffic transit service at any point of the border was
raised by Iran, which was warmly welcomed by countries active in the region. We
hope to have the same interaction with Armenia."
Hashemi said the launch and use
of data centers, cooperation in information and communication technology parks,
cybersecurity, smart government, space industry, post and e-commerce, and the ICT
ministry’s Payam Airport are some of the capacities of cooperation between the
two countries.
He also pointed to the limited
time window for progress in the field of artificial intelligence in the world
and said Iran follow ups joint interactions in this field with a special
attention.
The ICT minister said 25 percent
of startup companies in Iran operate in the field of ICT and added, “The
presence of these companies in the region is one of our priorities.”
The Armenian ambassador to Iran referred
to the cooperation between the two countries at the highest level and said such
ties are a suitable basis for using the capacities of both neighboring
countries in the field of ICT.
Hakobyan said the time was ripe
to increase mutual cooperation and emphasized that as the Armenian envoy, he
will pursue and strive to increase cooperation.
He proposed exchange of
delegations to explore areas of cooperation and meetings of the ICT ministries
of Iran and Armenia.
“Cooperation between
communication operators of the two countries, traffic transit, postal
cooperation, joint research and artificial intelligence are suitable areas for
cooperation in the field of ICT between the two countries,” he said.