ECOSF and Punjab Higher Education Commission vows to collaboration in Higher Education and STI

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President ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) Prof. Dr. Seyed Komail Tayebi visited Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) on August 15, 2023 in Lahore, Pakistan. The Chairperson PHEC Prof. Dr. Shahid Munir warmly welcomed him.

During the visit, a meeting also held which was attended by President ECOSF, Chairperson PHEC, Chief Operating Officer PHEC Dr. Mansoor Ahmed Baloch, and Manager (Admin) ECOSF Mr. Ghulam Abbas Rahar. The objective of the meeting was to develop a robust collaboration aimed at driving the progress of ECO region including Pakistan in the field of science, technology and innovation.

In the meeting, Chairperson PHEC Prof. Munir briefed about PHEC and said that PHEC was established in 2014 after devolution of powers from Central Government to Provincial Governments. The main objectives of the Commission are to promote higher education and enhance the quality education at level of international standards in the Province of Punjab Pakistan, he said. Prof. Munir further said that the Commission regularly organize different conferences, workshops, expos, seminars, etc., in all fields of education which are attended by the academia of Pakistan and other countries worldwide. The Commission plays a pivotal role for developing the collaboration between public and private universities. PHEC also facilitate and support the collaboration of local universities with international scientific institution to upgrade and implement the latest standards in higher education field.

Prof. Seyed Komail Tayebi highly appreciated the role of PHEC in the field of higher education. He made an introduction of ECOSF and shared that the Foundation is an intergovernmental organization of ten regional countries namely, Pakistan, Iran, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. All countries are interconnected and known as Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region. He further shared that the mandate of the Foundation is to train and facilitate highly skilled manpower to its member countries in the field of science, technology and innovations (STI). He said that the role of STI is crucial for sustainable development of any countries. Those countries who have invested in STI such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia are called Asian tigers in this field and enjoy high level of life standards through economic integration, he added. Prof. Tayebi further said that it is time to invest in STI so that our future generations can taste the fruits of quality life in ECO region. The sustainable development can be achieved through collaboration and the role of ECOSF is to facilitate and support the collaboration of scientific and educational institutes of ECO countries

The leadership of ECOSF and PHEC agreed to develop a strong collaboration keeping in view the respective role of both the organizations. An MoU was also suggested to be signed to initiate the collaboration very soon.

The meeting was very prolific and ended with commitment to organize joint activities very soon.