First meeting of Managing Commission of SCO Technopark and Innovation Cluster Pool

On Feb 1, the first meeting of the Managing Commission of the SCO Technopark and Innovation Cluster Pool, chaired by the Kazakhstan, was held in Almaty as part of the SCO Digital Forum. The event brought together heads and representatives of leading technoparks in SCO member states, as well as the SCO Secretariat.

The parties exchanged views on current trends in shaping the SCO technological landscape, paying special attention to possible difficulties and prospects for developing a startup ecosystem. They stressed the importance of technoparks, innovation clusters and establishing cooperation between them, startups and venture funds, and noted the urgent need for advanced and vocational training of experts in the era of digital technology.

Following the meeting, a protocol was signed.

The initiative to create the Technopark Pool was put forward at the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council in 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. It is intended to facilitate the hands-on implementation of the SCO Programme of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation until 2035, the SCO Concept of Cooperation on Digitalisation and Information and Communication Technologies, as well as other important documents related to the SCO innovation activities. The concept of creating the SCO Technopark and Innovation Cluster Pool was approved during the SCO Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) Council meeting held on 25 November 2021 in Kazakhstan.