The 4th Meeting of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) held in Isfahan, Iran
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The 4th Meeting of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ECOSF was held in Isfahan, Iran on 9th July, 2019.
The Meeting was opened by the Chairperson of the BoT the Minister for Science and Technology (MoST), Government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan H.E. Mr. Chaudhry Fawad Hussain. In his remarks, H.E. Mr. Chaudhry said ECOSF is one of the most important specialized agencies of the Economic Cooperation Organization and has a key role in the development of science and technology in our shared region consisting of ECO Member States. He further said that it is an established fact that there lies immense potential for growth and prosperity in the ECO region. In fact, this was the rationale behind the establishment of ECO itself. The very idea to join hands for the sake of overall progress of the people of our shared region led to the formulation of ECO and Pakistan is proud to be one of its founding members. He also talked that among other avenues of cooperation, science and technology, perhaps is of the key significance. There is no denying the fact that the role of science and technology in all walks of life is of critical importance in modern times. For developing countries likes ours, adoption of modern technologies is essential and perhaps the only passage to the road of peace, prosperity and stability, he ascertained.
After the opening, the Chair was handed over to the host Country i.e., Minister for Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) of Islamic Republic of Iran H.E. Dr. Mansour Gholami as per the ECOSF Rules of Procedure. In his speech, H.E. Dr. Gholami said that ECO-SF has carried out remarkable work over the past years that indeed deserve our appreciation. He also expressed that the countries in the region are in need of entering newer phases and fields of science and technology cooperation and he suggested that other fields of cooperation such as holding joint projects, undertaking technology transfer, and exchanging students, researchers and academics may also be undertaken in the region. H.E. Mr. Gholami also told that it is of utmost importance to make most of the experiences of other regional organizations and their application in the local-regional context. The Minister SRT of Iran showed the readiness of his country to support the Foundation in every manner.
The Secretary General ECO, H.E. Dr. Hadi Soleimanpour also attended the meeting. He in his remarks said that the cooperation among the ECO Member States in the field of Science & Technology holds a significant importance for realization of Organization’s key objectives as well as strategic goals as envisaged in the Treaty of Izmir, ECO Vision 2025 and UN SDGs. He further said that ECOSF, a core specialized agency of the ECO mandated to promote and support activities in the field of science and technology in its member states. It must be a matter of great satisfaction that the ECOSF has achieved a number of accomplishments in the past years and has contributed valuably to the promotion of scientific cooperation in the region, he expressed. With the diversification of its activities in various areas, and development of institutional linkages with relevant regional and international organizations, it has emerged as an important body of the ECO capable of achieving progress in the areas identified in its Charter as well.
Earlier, the President of University of Isfahan H.E. Dr Hooshang Talebi welcomed the Chairperson, Minister and the delegates of the Meeting. He expressed that it is the immense pleasuser to have all the dignitaries in the beautiful city of Isfahan, the city of civilization, history, and culture, and to the University of Isfahan.
The BoT Meeting was also attended by the Representatives from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Tajikistan. The ECO Secretariat was represented by the Secretary General ECO, H.E. Dr. Hadi Soleimanpour and ECO Educational Institute was represented by its President, H.E. Prof. M. Akif Kirecci. In addition, the ECOSF Collaborators in Isfahan the Isfahan Regional Center for Science Parks (IRIS) / Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT) upon special invitation attended the meeting as Observer.
The President ECOSF who is also Secretary BoT apprised the Board on status of implementation of its decisions taken in the 3rd Meeting of ECOSF BoT. He informed the Board that ECOSF Secretariat has taken all the required actions on all decisions of 3rd BoT Meeting. A progress report of the Foundation since last meeting of BoT was also presented in the meeting by President ECOSF.
The BoT Meeting was preceded by the meeting of Executive Committee (EC) on 8th July 2019, under the Chairmanship of President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro. In his opening remarks, the President welcomed the delegates and gave a brief overview of the progress made by ECOSF since the last BoT meeting. He expressed the hope that positive and constructive contributions by the participants would help the EC for successfully finalizing preparations for the BoT Meeting. The EC held in-depth discussions on agenda items of the BoT and made recommendations, inter-alia, on the, Status of Ratification of ECOSF Charter and its Additional Protocol; Mandatory Budgetary Contributions; Contribution to the S&T Fund; Approval of ECOSF Accounts 2016, 2017 & 2018: and Budgetary Estimates for 2019 and 2020: Adoption of ECOSF Annual Reports for 2016, 2017 and and 2018; Draft Work Plan 2019 & 2020 (tentative) and new proposed programmes of the Foundation; Appointment of the next President of ECOSF as well as the Draft Isfahan Communiqué 2019 for adoption by the 4th Meeting of the BoT. The EC also prepared and endorsed the Draft Report of the 4th BoT Meeting.
The BoT evaluated the performance and programmes of the Foundation since its last meeting and highly appreciated the performance of the Foundation despite the budgetary constraints. The BoT also approved new initiatives and work plans of ECOSF. The Meeting ended with vote of thanks.