TEHRAN, Oct. 19 (MNA) � Iran and South Korea have agreed to further expand scientific cooperation, deputy Minister of Science said Wed.

A joint meeting was held on Wednesday between Iran and South Korea�s universities on expansion of scientific cooperation in Tehran. Deputy Minister of Science for International Affairs, Hossein Salar Amoli, and the President of the National�Institute�for�International Education�(NIIED) of the Republic of Korea,�Kim Kwang-ho, were present at the meeting.

�The Islamic Republic of Iran is moving toward knowledge-based economy and for this purpose, it has put on agenda the expansion of academic and scientific cooperation with top countries in science and technology,� Salar Amoli said.

He went on to add, �we believe in high standards of South Korea�s universities and have, accordingly, planned to improve our mutual academic cooperation with the country.�

Salar Amoli pointed to the high status of Iranian universities in West Asia region, adding �last year, 13 Iranian universities were placed by Thomson Reuters rankings among top universities in the world. Our universities have the required capacities to welcome academic delegations from various countries.�

The meeting took place between 13 universities of South Korea and 38 Iranian universities and higher education and research institutes.

By Mehr News Agency