The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Somalia to Pakistan, H.E. Khadija Mohamed Almakhzoumi along with Mr. Abdi Ibrahim Hassan, First Secretary at the Embassy of Somalia, visited COMSATS Secretariat, on 21st January 2020. In addition to following up on discussions held during the meeting held on 13th January 2020, the meeting aimed at working out ways to further the ongoing cooperation between COMSATS and Somalia for achieving the mutual objectives.

Her Excellency’s meeting with the Executive Director COMSATS, Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi, was also attended by other senior officials of COMSATS Secretariat.

Building on the discussions of the earlier meeting, Dr. Zaidi highlighted the potential areas of mutual cooperation in S&T whereby Somalia can benefit and the country’s collaborations with other countries strengthened. Dr. Zaidi proposed the idea of establishing a top-class R&D centre in the field of Information Technology in Somalia, which may focus on precision agriculture, e-agriculture, early warning systems for floods and droughts, e-education. The afore-mentioned Centre may extend its operations to research on climate change vulnerabilities, agricultural productivity, apart from skill development and training resources.

The Ambassador expressed interest in the idea and discussed the financial and technical aspects of the afore-mentioned IT Centre. In this connection, it was agreed that the proposal from COMSATS will be forwarded to the Government authorities as well as private sector of Somalia by Embassy. The potential options of support from international donor organizations in this regard shall also be explored.

In connection with an earlier offer, the Executive Director pledged to support the capacity building of the proposed Centre’s manpower through scholarships & trainings.

The Ambassador took keen interest in the COMSATS’ Telehealth Programme and discussed the possibility of its replication in Somalia, in order to strengthen the healthcare sector of the country, by benefitting from emerging trends in Information and Communication Technology. The Ambassador was invited to visit the Telehealth facilities housed at COMSATS Internet Services.

The two sides also discussed the 25 post-graduate scholarships for Somali students and students for studies at COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) in various disciplines. The Ambassador pledged to take full advantage of this offer.

Earlier during the day, matters of mutual interest were also discussed with H.E. Mr. Borhene El Kamel, Ambassador of Tunisia to Pakistan, and H.E. Mr. Volodymyr Lakomov, Ambassador of Ukraine to Pakistan, in their respective offices in Islamabad.