Ulsan will strengthen cooperation with the Russian city of Tomsk in the field of high technology development, Ulsan Metropolitan City and Ulsan Technopark announced Wednesday.

The two said they will hold the 28th International Science and Technology Center (ISTC)-Korea Ulsan Workshop at the Lotte Hotel in the southeastern city on Monday and Tuesday to explore ways to bolster ties in technology research and development.

Among the participants are 20 Russian scientists, including a large number of representatives from Tomsk State University, the Russia-based ISTC and the Tomsk Special Economic Zone (SEZ), who will present 16 articles on advanced industry materials.

“The Tomsk SEZ in Russia is the birthplace of nanotechnology. Using what we can learn from the professional staff at the workshop, Ulsan can strengthen its global technical competencies and improve local advanced industries,” Ulsan Technopark President Shin Dong-sik said in a statement.

To promote more international cooperation between the two sister cities, Tomsk SEZ members and technology businesses in Ulsan will sign a mutual technical cooperation agreement that will help foster start-up companies in the region.

The three planned seminar sections include “Nano and New Materials, Information and Communication Technology (ICT),” “Biomaterial, Recycling and Power Transfer System Technologies” and “ICT Technologies, Inorganic Nano-Coatings and Electro-mechanical technology.”

The two cities were twinned in November 2003, and held their first International Forum on Strategic Technology in 2006 in Ulsan. The seventh is planned for September in Tomsk.