COMSATS and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 7th July 2025, aimed at fostering academic cooperation and institutional capacity building in S&T and emerging technologies.
The MoU was signed by the Executive Director COMSATS, Ambassador Dr. M. Nafees Zakaria, and President AIPS, Dr. Matthew A. Cook, in a ceremony witnessed by some of the representatives of Diplomatic Missions of COMSATS Members States in Islamabad as well as officers of COMSATS and AIPS.
COMSATS is an intergovernmental organization of 27 member countries, committed to advancing scientific research, innovations and tech-based solutions for sustainable development. AIPS is a binational research and educational organization working to encourage scholarly exchanges.
The MoU shall enable COMSATS and AIPS to foster academic collaboration between institutions of COMSATS’ founding Member State, Pakistan, and the USA. Cooperation will encompass training programs, creation of opportunities for academic placements, holding workshops and seminars on S&T and emerging technologies, exchange of information, and pooling of resources for mutual benefit.
Ambassador Zakaria recapitulated past collaboration between COMSATS and AIPS, which included academic lectures, interactive sessions and workshops. “These initiatives reflect shared commitment to academic cooperation, institutional capacity building, and innovation”, said the Executive Director. He underscored the active role being played by COMSATS to facilitate South-South and triangular cooperation in emerging fields of science and technology.
Dr. Cook expressed enthusiasm on AIPS’ continued collaboration with COMSATS, particularly to serve the scholarly communities of Pakistan and the USA. He noted that AIPS and COMSATS have commonality in terms of objectives as well as affiliation with various R&D organizations and universities. Dr. Cook looked forward to impactful and mutually beneficial collaboration between the two organization.
The ceremony concluded with both sides reaffirming their shared commitment to knowledge sharing, socio-economic progress, and sustainable development.