Sharjah to set-up science and technology center in Kochi

Kochi: The Emirate of Sharjah announced the setting up of a Science and Technology Innovation Center in Kochi, Kerala. 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. Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister for Foreign Trade, UAE; Venu Rajamony, Consul General of India, Dubai; Dr Ajaykumar, Principal Secretary-IT, 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.

Ajay Kumar, Principal Secretary-IT, Government of Kerala said, “Kerala is traditionally strong in academics with seven universities offering doctoral studies. Over seven percent of India's IT workforce comes from Kerala. Several universities in Kerala are conducting high-quality research, which maybe relevant for product and service enhancements of companies in Sharjah. Through the establishment of the Science and Technology Innovation Center, Sharjah-based firms can directly collaborate on these activities and set-up partnership mechanism to commercialize the benefits of the research.”

Al Midfa remarked, “Our main objective of setting up the center is 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. India has been a major trading partner of the UAE and is an ideal choice for a venture of this sort. The state of Kerala boasts of some of the leading research institutes of India working in diverse fields such as space technology, biotechnology and engineering sciences. The center will help Sharjah-based companies to actively engage Kerala's large talent pool to jointly produce cost-effective value added solutions.”

Established in the year 2004, Infopark Kochi is the second IT park and center of excellence being developed by the government of Kerala, after Technopark in Thiruvanthapuram. Over the years, the sprawling 100 acre campus is home to many of the leading names in IT and ITeS.