President backed Russian Skolkovo’s proposition on innovative coop
Speaking at a meeting of the Kazakh President with Russian businessmen on the sidelines of the 20th International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, V.Vekselberg noted that Kazakhstan and Russia possess high intellectual potential which need to be used in cooperation in the sphere of innovations.
In this context, V.Vekselberg pointed out the project on establishment of the Skolkovo Innovation Centre.
“We have achieved certain success in this area. More than 1,500 innovative companies are functioning today under this project which enabled us to create over 18,000 job places. This is the success which we see in cooperation and partnership with our colleagues from Kazakhstan,” said the Russian businessman.
Vekselberg told the Kazakh President that in the past two years Kazakhstan has also been a part of Skolkovo’s Startup Village initiative.
“I would like to note that only in 2016 Almaty has submitted 230 applications for participating in this competition. This is an unprecedented interest in the projects, i.e. 30% more compared to the previous year. I am pleased to see that the level of these applications conform to the most up-to-date technological decisions and proves extremely high potential of Kazakhstan in innovations sector. Therefore, we want to boost this cooperation. With your support, I hope, we will expand the number of participating cities next year and we will shift tp promotion of real projects in the Russian, Kazakh and other countries’ markets,” said Vekselberg.
He noted the idea of the Agency for Technologies Development on inclusion of more than 60 Kazakhstani researchers and scholars to the Skolkovo’s Expert Council.
“We have adopted this decision and they will become our partner. On the one hand, this step will let Kazakhstani scholars’ access to the projects we are discussing now, and, on the other hand, it will allow us to attract our partners to joint developments,” he said.
Upon completion of the meeting, Vekselberg confirmed that Skolkovo will attend Astana EXPO in 2017.
Alongside, he expressed hope that Kazakhstan will join the Skolkovo International Forum of Science Parks.
In turn, the Head of State emphasized the importance of this idea.
“This part of cooperation is of great importance for us. We will render all-round support to its promotion,” he added.