November 22, 2023. COMSATS signed two separate cooperative agreements with the Directorate General of Science and Technology, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (DGST-KP) and Rawal Institute of Health Sciences (RIHS) today to forge cooperation in areas of emerging technologies for tech-based solutions to developmental challenges.

The agreement between COMSATS and DGST-KP was signed by Ambassador Dr. M. Nafees Zakaria, Executive Director of COMSATS, and Dr. Sajid Hussain Shah, Director General of DGST-KP on behalf of their respective institutions. The areas of cooperation, inter-alia, include: IT and Digitalization, Climate Change and Environment, Human Resource Development, Skills Development, Electric Vehicles, Renewable Energy, Natural Resource Exploitation (Gemstones and Mines), Micro Hydro Plants, and Biomedicine.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by the Provincial Minister for Science and Technology and Information Technology, KP, H.E. Dr. Najeebullah Marwat and Ambassadors and diplomats of Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen, as well as Heads and senior officials of government departments.

The agreement with RIHS was signed by Co-Chairperson Board of Directors, Mrs. Saleha Khaqan, on behalf of the Institute that formalized relations for cooperation in the field of health and education.

COMSATS and RIHS plan to cooperate in the areas related to health sector, inter-alia, including AI-based solutions, people’s health and environment, internationalization of medical education and facilities, human resource development, electric vehicles for persons with physical disabilities.

The KP Minister for ST&IT announced that his government is creating one-hundred million dollar venture fund to facilitate realignment of R&D with the contemporary needs of the province and the country. He informed that a research agenda for academia in the province is being launched soon that will allow for standardizing and establishing centralized and regional labs on the model of Innovate UK.

Addressing the gathering, Executive Director COMSATS informed that COMSATS has recently signed agreements with a number of Government departments and private companies that are primarily focused on facilitating R&D and technology transfer.

Co-Chairperson RIHS, being a part of the private sector, looked forward to collaborating with COMSATS for strengthening of health sector in the country.