Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to visit U.S. Silicon Valley in June to boost Russian-U.S. cooperation in the high-tech sphere, a Russian deputy premier said on Monday.

Russia is currently constructing a high-tech business park in Skolkovo near Moscow to ensure breakthroughs in the country's innovation sector. The project has already been dubbed Russia's answer to Silicon Valley

"We expect that a significant impetus to our cooperation in the high-tech sphere will be given by the planned visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Silicon Valley in California this June," Sergei Ivanov said during his visit to Washington.

Russia considers the development of the high-tech and innovation sector its top priority and has pledged billions of U.S. dollars to finance the sector, which it hopes will end the country's dependence on raw material exports.

The activities of the high-tech research hub in Skolkovo will focus on five priority spheres: energy, information technologies, communication, biomedical research and nuclear technologies.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (RIA Novosti)