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Follow UsKOCHI, INDIA: The emirate of Sharjah today announced the setting up of a Science and Technology Innovation Center in Infopark Kochi, one of the hubs of Kerala IT.
The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and Infopark Kochi, a government of Kerala enterprise, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as the first step towards this initiative.
The MoU was signed between Ahmed Mohammed Al Midfa, chairman, SCCI and Siddhartha Bhattacharya, CEO, Infopark Kochi, at the ‘India & Sharjah – Partners in Progress’ event held at the Chamber’s premises, said a press release.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister for Foreign Trade, UAE; Venu Rajamony, Consul General of India, Dubai; Dr. Ajaykumar, Principal Secretary – Information Technology, Government of Kerala, and other distinguished dignitaries.
The center which is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2010, is envisaged as a platform to provide Sharjah-based businesses access to top-end talent and knowledge-based resources in Kerala across world-class companies and reputed universities catering to a wide array of conventional and emerging technologies.
On the occasion, Dr. Ajay Kumar said that over 7 per cent of India’s IT workforce came from Kerala. Several universities in Kerala are conducting high quality research which maybe relevant for product and service enhancements of companies in Sharjah, he pointed.
“Through the establishment of the center, Sharjah-based firms can directly collaborate on these activities and setup partnership mechanism to commercialize the benefits of the research,” Kumar added.
“We are pleased to announce the setting up of the Science and Technology Innovation Centre in Kerala,” said Mohammed Al Midfa. He added that the main objective of setting up the center was to help the small and medium enterprises in Sharjah to help conduct research and development work to bring to market innovative products and services in a cost effective manner.