Financial Tribune - Bank Melli Iran and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology have signed an agreement to enhance bilateral cooperation.

�Bank Melli belongs to all Iranian citizens and so, in collaboration with Science Ministry, the bank does not seek to make profits, but wishes to support the academic community,� the bank�s CEO, Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh, was quoted as saying by the official news website of BMI.

The official noted that in the past three decades, most Islamic Azad University buildings were constructed with the assistance of BMI, which is the nation�s largest lender.

As part of the agreement, faculty members and employees of the ministry and its affiliated science and technology parks and knowledge-based firms will use wide-ranging services provided by BMI.

Mohammad Farhadi, the science minister, said one of the major concerns of the ministry is to improve the scientific level of universities and improve the livelihood of its workers.

�We also wish to develop educational spaces and we can achieve these goals by employing the good potentials of BMI,� the minister added.

Back in July, BMI also signed an agreement with the Presidential Office for Science and Technology to create a new hub for startups and support innovative ideas.