Russian technopark: “We are interested in entering Azerbaijan market ”
Open Innovations Startup Tour, considered as the largest event in terms of finding innovative startups, has been launched in Baku yesterday. The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies (MTCHT) and Skolkovo Foundation of the Russian Federation.
The representative of the MTCHT greeted the guests on behalf of the Minister Ramin Guluzade during the opening ceremony.
According to Xeberler.az, the head of the Ministry’s department Mr Tahir Mammadov expressed gratitude to the Skolkovo Foundation for organizing the Open Innovations Startup Tour in Baku.
T. Mammadov has noted that President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev defined the development of the non-oil sector as well as hi-tech and innovative developments as a priority.
“We are always ready for mutually beneficial cooperation in this field with other countries, in particular with our close neighbor Russian Federation. It is not coincidence that the Baku Business Center hosts this event, because the main goal of our participants is to convert their ideas into a business. We do hope that our joint support will let them realize their ideas”.
Chargé d'affaires of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Azerbaijan Oleg Murashev has noted that today’s event coincided with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
“Open Innovations Startup Tour is another level of our countries’ all-round cooperation. We sincerely wish young entrepreneurs to get new achievements and successful projects that they could realize in either Azerbaijan or Russia. We consider that Skolkovo Foundation’s mission will create new opportunities for young entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan.”
Mr Renat Batyrov, General Director of Skolkovo Technopark has noted that today’s event is a good start for cooperation with either the Russia’s regions or new country, because within the new regions the residents of the Skolkovo Foundation in many cases gain access to local markets, attract new orders and investments: “We are interested in getting our residents to enter the Azerbaijani market. It’s not only about the energy companies’ market, but biomedical technologies, agriculture, and tourism. At the same time, we will be happy to have Azerbaijani companies among the residents of the Skolkovo Foundation, enter the Russian market and take advantage of all the opportunities that we provide.”
It should be noted that experts and speakers talked with young entrepreneurs during the daylong lectures and master classes organized within the framework of the event. Besides, all interested persons took part in mentoring sessions, during which representatives of partner development institutions and large IT companies gave comments on changes and improvement of projects.
Open Innovations Startup Tour is the first stage within the annual cycle of startup teams’ selection. The next stages of project development is the Startup Village conference and Open Innovations forum.
Today, on April 18, the startupers will present their projects before the jury composed of experts.