Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Abdullah al-Dardari, said Monday that his country welcomed more Chinese companies specialized in the telecommunication sector for investment and cooperation.

Dardari made the remarks in a speech at the opening ceremony of a four-day exhibition of sophisticated wireless communications products held by China's ZTE Corporation.

Syria's information and communications technology (ICT) industry has witnessed rapid development in recent years which offered a broad platform for cooperation with ZTE and other international companies, said Dardari.

He noted that during his recent trip to China in July he talked with a number of Chinese companies specialized in the technology sector about setting up a Chinese technology park here in Damascus.

"And I believe ZTE has offered to help ... with this technology park which will serve our centers of research and development, manufacturing and marketing of the ICT technology in Syria and around the region," said Dardari.

He also talked about the potential of the future expansion of the ICT sector in Syria, saying it is a passageway for his country to achieve the knowledge economy, which is planned for 2025.

"That, in itself, is a tremendous possibility and potential for investment both for Syrian and international companies working in this country," he said.

For his part, Chinese ambassador to Syria Li Huaxin said the Chinese government encouraged and supported companies like ZTE, which have strength and credibility, to do business with Syria.

The third session of the Sino-Syrian Economic and Trade Committee, held in Damascus in June, has agreed to put priority to telecommunication cooperation between the two sides, said Li.

He expressed the belief that such a high-tech exhibition would promote a mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation between the two countries.

ZTE, a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, exhibited here a set of its core network solution equipment, or unified IP platform, with a value of over 100,000 U.S. dollars, which embodied the innovation features of its 3G (third generation) technology.

It also exhibited its new 3.5G mobile phone, connected with a remote-controlled camera, which attracted great attention of the participants as it is a leading technology in the world developed by ZTE at the end of 2006.

During the exhibition, workshops on ZTE's cost-effective 3.5G HSDPA solution and its core network solution were also held.

ZTE entered the Syrian market in 2001 and has undertaken Syria's first commercial fixed line network, the "Intelligent Network", and the "Campus Net" in Damascus University with a total value of about 12 million dollars.

It is also the country's largest equipment provider for its prepaid phone industry.