NAIROBI, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Republic of Korea (ROK) is set to establish a graduate-only technology university in Kenya to meet the country's ambition of becoming a knowledge-based economy through innovation in science and technology.

Sung-Chul Shin, president of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), said the idea comes at an appropriate time when Kenya is moving towards Vision 2030 that aims at transforming the country into a middle-income economy.

"Kenya is facing large shortage of engineers in the fields of electrical, mechanical, civil and agricultural scopes and we are very keen on promoting the university to become an entrepreneurial institute," Shin said during a public lecture and kick-off ceremony at the University of Nairobi.

The institute, to be known as Kenya KAIST University, will be constructed at the Konza Technopolis City situated on the outskirts of Nairobi by 2021, with the first batch of 200 graduate students set to start classes in 2022.

Reuben Mutiso, chairman of Konza Technopolis Development Authority, said there is need to build a nurturing environment for graduate students in Kenya and the region that will see an innovative growth rallied by science.