Iran Science Minister Seeks Japanese Counterpart's Visit with Abe

Tokyo, Oct. 4 (Jiji Press)--Iranian science and technology minister Mohammad Farhadi on Tuesday expressed his hope that his Japanese counterpart, Hirokazu Matsuno, will accompany Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his envisioned visit to the Middle East country. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has invited Abe to visit his country. In an interview with news organizations including Jiji Press, Farhadi, who is visiting Japan to attend an international conference, said that he hopes to hold talks with Matsuno on promoting exchanges between the two countries' universities and students. He said that education levels at Japanese universities are among the highest in the world. Farhadi also said that Iran significantly advanced science and technology even when the country was under Western sanctions imposed due to its nuclear development programs, underscoring the importance of Japan-Iran interaction. Noting that Iran suffered an exodus of higher-educated people during the sanctions period, Farhadi said that the country plans to increase full-time posts at universities and posts at science and technology parks, which promote basic science research in cooperation with companies. Farhadi added that Tehran is considering giving preferential tax treatment to companies that open bases in the parks, calling on Japanese firms to do business there. END