TEHRAN, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a multilateral deal to establish and connect startup centers, Eghtesadonline news website reported on Sunday.

The contract, inked on the sidelines of Bakutel 2018 in Azerbaijan capital city of Baku earlier this week, requires a joint investment of two million U.S. dollars to expand technological collaboration.

Based on the contract, the startup centers are to connect knowledge-based companies and startups from the four nations and help build technological cooperation.

"Each country will invest 500 thousand U.S. dollars in the project that will link experts and the educated people. The project will also help expand technological collaboration in the region," Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, was quoted as saying.

"Startups and digital businesses are gradually claiming a bigger share of the global economy. Governments need to see the changes brought about by startups and their expansion and they need to support such firms," Jahromi said.

The 24th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications, Innovations and High Technologies Exhibition and Conference, Bakutel 2018, was held at the Baku Expo Center on Dec. 4-7.