A German delegation of the Baden-Württemberg region headed by the Deputy Minister President and the Minister of Finance and Economics of the state of Baden-Württemberg Dr. Nils Schmid entered Iran for a period of 6 days from the 4th to the 10th of September 2015. During this visit of Iran they travelled to Isfahan and in particular to Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT) and Isfahan Regional Center for Technology Incubators and Science Parks Development under the Auspices of UNESCO (IRIS) on the 8th of September 2015. Upon arriving at ISTT the delegation first attended a meeting with ISTT and IRIS’s management teams. At first ISTT president Dr. Keshmiri, welcomed the delegation to ISTT and expressed his hopes and aspirations in establishing a long lasting working relationship with the region of Baden-Württemberg and its industries and commerce. After which a presentation of ISTT and IRIS was given to showcase the achievements and accomplishments of these institutes within the past decade and also to highlight the underlying potential for future collaborations and expansion to come. At this point the podium was given to Dr. Nils Schmid who expressed his gratitude for the invitation to visit ISTT and IRIS with his companions, and also his great surprise to the extent of achievements yielded by ISTT and IRIS under such hard conditions. He went on to say that the state of Baden-Württemberg is the economically strongest state in Germany and is so due to the heavy investment placed annually in R&D. This investment amounts to 5% of the national German GDP which comes from the private sector but is fostered in an environment made suitable by the state to nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship. This by itself has the hidden meaning of investing millions of Euros in education and research. Baden-Württemberg has done as such by establishing close ties with research institutes and so this delegation is very happy to visit ISTT and IRIS in this regard. He added that the delegation is eager to understand what steps have been taken by this institute and also the government to create a suitable and fostering environment for the development of companies and SME’s. Dr. Schmid mentioned that he had noticed that the slogan for ISTT is “where the business of science comes alive” and that the slogan is much similar to that of Baden-Württemberg which is “Where Ideas Work”. With such similarities, both parties have parallel goals and motivation to path the way for future cooperation in research, education, and commerce. After the meeting the delegation proceeded to the garden area of the Sheikh Baha’i building within ISTT in which they met with several of the teams representing different tenant companies of ISTT and familiarized themselves with some of their technological achievements.
