UN body vows support for better regional links

Minister outlines government’s focus on innovation and research

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology and Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain said on Wednesday that the government was focusing on building state-of-the-art technology parks in the country.

“The Ministry of Science and Technology has taken a lot of other initiatives to promote research and innovation,” he said while talking to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) Undersecretary General Shamshad Akhtar.



In the meeting, the minister said the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and Comsats were already pursuing the initiative and would be happy if Unescap’s South Asian office provided them technical assistance in these initiatives, according to a statement.

Akhtar appreciated the role of the ministry in promoting the culture of research and innovation while assuring organisational support to Pakistani institutes to ensure better regional connectivity and socioeconomic development in the entire region.

Akhtar asked Hussain to provide a list of top researchers/scientists in Pakistan so that Unescap could coordinate with them in exploring new avenues of cooperation, especially for the development of science and technology, not only in Pakistan but in the entire region.



Hussain said Unescap had already assisted many countries in the region and its assistance to Pakistan in developing the science and technology sector would be a commendable gesture.

Federal Science and Technology Secretary Yasmin Masood and other senior officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology were present in the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2017.

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