Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan appreciates the efforts of ECOSF for promotion of STI in ECO region

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The new Ambassador of Tajikistan to Pakistan H.E. Mr. Ismatullo Nasredin visited ECOSF Secretariat on 19 April 2019. He was warmly welcomed by President ECOSF Prof. Manzoor H. Soomro on his maiden visit to the Foundation.

President ECOSF thanked the Ambassador for the visit and briefed him about the aims and objectives as well as the ongoing activities and initiatives of the Foundation. He shared with the Ambassador that the Foundation has developed working relations/collaborations with international organizations such as; UNESCO, International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation under the auspices of UNESCO (ISTIC), Kuala Lumpur, La main a la pate Foundation of France (LAMAP), Children and Youth Science Centre of China Association of Science and Technology (CYSCC), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and other renowned organizations.

Prof. Soomro also informed the Tajik Ambassador that the Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) programme for ECO region was launched from Astana (Nur Sultan), Kazakhstan in 2015 where participants from all ECO member countries including two from Tajikistan had participated and were trained on IBSE methodology for teaching STEM subjects in their respective countries. The programme is successfully being implemented in Pakistan and Iran and discussions are undergoing with Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and Pedagogical University Dushanbe to launch it in Tajikistan. President ECOSF also shared with H.E. Mr. Nasredin that Engineering Qualification Standardization and Accreditation is also one of the main programme of ECOSF which is being implemented with the support of UNESCO and Federation of Engineering Institutes of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) based in Kuala Lumpur. The programme is to make the engineering qualification of ECO countries at par with international standards.  In this context, a meeting was also arranged in Dushanbe in March 2017 in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and Tajik Technical University wherein representatives from UNESCO, FEIAP, ECOSF and participants from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and IEEE attended.

It was further added by Prof. Soomro that the collaboration with Chinese organizations has been established under the One Belt One Road Initiative of China. Under this collaboration, the scientific and educational community of ECO region is facilitated to participate in the various programmes. One of the programmes is “Teenager Makers Camps and Science Teachers Workshops” initiated in 2017 and held annually. The teams comprising of students and teachers from world participate in the camp. ECOSF invites nominations from its member countries and since last year (2018), a team from Tajikistan also participated in the camp. This year, 3rd teenager maker camp will be held from 24-30 September 2019 at Nanning China, wherein, the teams from 7 ECO countries viz., Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan will participate.

He further added that ECOSF, Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) Malaysia and Sugon Ruiyi Technology are partnering on Digital @ Belt and Road Double Hundred Universities Cooperation Program (DHUCP) under the Belt and Road initiative of China. So far, 12 universities from Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey have joined in. Under this program, the capacity and capability of the universities will be enhanced in the fields of ICTs, AI and Big Data.

President ECOSF emphasized on the much needed support of the Member Countries and said; if the member countries provide more support, the Foundation can launch more programmes in its member countries.

H.E. Mr. Ismatullo Nasredin said that the Foundation is very important specialized agency of ECO and highly appreciated the contribution of ECOSF for linking the scientific community of ECO region with international communities and organizations. He assured cooperation and support of Tajikistan for realization of ECOSF objectives and said, he will take up the matter with their Ministry of Foreign Affairs on priority.

The Ambassador also shared that the institutes of Tajikistan are also making a good progress in the field of science, geology, astronomy, he specially mentioned the state of the art observatory of Tajikistan installed at its Pamir region.

President ECOSF again thanked the Ambassador for their support and assured him for more benefits through the Foundation to Tajikistan and other ECO countries for economic development.

At the end, Prof. Soomro presented the insignia of ECOSF to H.E. Mr. Ismatullo Nasredin and thanked him for visiting ECOSF.