[ Speeches ] [ Communiqué of the Meeting ] [ List of Participants ] [ Presentations ]

The 24th Coordinating Council Meeting of COMSATS was inaugurated at Karachi on 25th January 2023. The two-day meeting is being hosted by one of the two COMSATS Centres of Excellence in Pakistan, the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS). The Heads of COMSATS’ 24 Centres of Excellence in Asia, Africa and Latin America constitute the Council, which is a forum for scientific and technical cooperation among the member countries and partner organizations.

Prof. Dr. Ashraf Shaalan, Chairperson COMSATS Coordinating Council; Vice Chancellor University of Karachi, Prof. Dr. Khalid Mehmood Iraqi; Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Director ICCBS and COMSTECH Coordinator-General; Executive Director COMSATS, Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Nafees Zakaria; and Prof. Dr. Farzana Shaheen (ICCBS) spoke at the Ceremony. Many dignitaries, including Prof. Dr. M.H. A. Hassan, President of The World Academy of Sciences, were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Iqbal Choudhary welcomed the participants of the meeting and pointed out that the pandemic has also exposed the gross failure of global cooperation, as countries were left on their own to struggle with a health crisis of unprecedented magnitude.

Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Nafees Zakaria briefed the participants on COMSATS’ functioning, and highlighted COMSATS’ aim of benefiting its member states and other countries in the developing world in terms of Science, Technology and Innovation-led development. He underscored the importance of COMSATS’ pursuit of its mission of Science and Technology-led development. The idea of establishing a high-level commission on science and technology for countries of the South, he added, was conceived by Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam, in recognition of the increasingly widening gap of scientific knowledge and economic development between the North and the South.

Highlighting the mission of COMSATS, Prof. Ashraf Shaalan considered supporting each member state of COMSATS under the umbrella of the commission the mission of COMSATS Network of Centres of Excellence.

Also, speaking on the occasion, Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, ICCBS Patron-in-Chief and former Federal Minister for Science and Technology, advised the senior officials of the COMSATS to focus on education, science, technology, innovation & commercialization in their policy formulation.

Prof. Khalid Iraqi welcomed the delegates and participants of the meeting and considered it an honour for the University to host this important meeting at Karachi University campus.

The Meeting is the first after appointment of full-time incumbent Executive Director COMSATS, Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Nafees Zakaria by the Prime Minister of Pakistan last November. The meeting will be deliberating on a number of agenda items, including circulation of the Council’s Chairpersonship from Egypt to another elected institution head; reconstitution of COMSATS’ Technical Advisory Committee, Centre’s presentations on their recent programmes and activities, and discussions on new initiatives and future plans.

Speeches

• Welcome Address by Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General COMSTECH/ Director, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences
• Address by Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, Executive Director COMSATS
• Address by Prof. Dr. Ashraf Shaalan Chairperson, COMSATS Coordinating Council and Former President, National Research Centre (NRC), Egypt
• Address by Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, Vice Chancellor, University of Karachi, Pakistan
• Keynote / Inaugural Address by Chief Guest, Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, Professor Emeritus and Patron-in-Chief, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Pakistan

Presentations

• Bangladesh Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh
• International Center for Climate and Environment Sciences (ICCES), China
• Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (TIB), China
• International Centre for Physics (CIF), Colombia
• National Research Centre (NRC), Egypt
• University of The Gambia (UTG), The Gambia
• Sephluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Indonesia
• International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS), Jamaica
• Royal Scientific Society (RSS), Jordan
• National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Nigeria
• International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Pakistan
• COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Pakistan
• Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), Sri Lanka
• Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology (HIAST), Syria
• Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organization (TIRDO), Tanzania
• Water Researches and Technologies Centre of Borj-Cedria (CERTE), Tunisia
• The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK), Türkiye

Other Presentations

• UNESCO
• UNESCAP
• UNIDO
• South Centre
• SESRIC
• COMSTECH