ISLAMABAD: COMSTECH organized a coordination meeting with Research and Development (R&D) institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology at the COMSTECH secretariat on Wednesday.
Secretary for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Akhtar Nazir, chaired the meeting.
He assured full support of the Ministry to the R&D institutions and said we need to develop a clear vision for all R&D and Science and Technology (S&T) organizations, review it and assess its feasibility and then go for capacity building and competitive growth initiatives.
He suggested that we need to review and update statutes and rules of our organizations which need to align with the current needs.
He appreciated the organization of the meeting and termed it a very useful initiative.
Dr. Akhtar said, we believe that there is no superman or super organization, we need to build teams, and encourage teamwork to advance.
He proposed to establish the mechanism of collaboration between S&T and regulatory organizations including conducting regular meetings.
Coordinator General, COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary said the objective of this meeting is to find ways to make COMSTECH a strongest organization in Pakistan, which is the only organization of OIC hosted by Pakistan.
He said we have to find ways that COMSTECH can play a role for establishing linkages and joint collaborative projects among Pakistani R&D institutions and the institutions of the OIC system and member states.
Dr. Choudhary suggested that the COMSTECH strength needs to be utilized for promotion of Pakistan’s science diplomacy initiative as well as to achieve competitive growth of S&T institutions of Pakistan.
Capacity building of R&D institutions, fostering collaboration, and developing international linkages of R&D institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology, identification of relevant partner institutions in the OIC region for R&D collaboration and capacity building initiatives and discussion on COMSTECH technology portal along with preparation of a brief roadmap and implementation strategy for review and approval of the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, were the thrust areas of the discussions.
Heads of 14 top R&D organizations and universities of Pakistan participated in the meeting and shared their views, suggestions and insights.