Pakistan needs to exploit its potential in science to attract global market: Shibli
ISLAMABAD
Federal Minister for Science & Technology, Shibli Faraz has said that the present government believes in investing in the future generation in Science and Technology (S&T) as well as imparting relevant skills to enable young students to contribute to the national economy.
He expressed these views in his inaugural address at the first two-day first International Conference on General Chemistry titled “From Fundamentals to Applications” at the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) on Thursday.
The two-day event is being jointly organized by Karakorum International University, Gilgit-Baltistan and Department of Chemistry CUI-Islamabad Campus.
Shibli Faraz said the government would reward scientists who conduct solution-oriented research resulting in tangible products, innovation and patents that could be commercialized. He also said that the total global herbal trade was currently assessed at US$ 120 billion. He said our research institutions needed to devise a strategy to exploit their potential to become part of this global market.
He lauded the efforts of CUI for reaching out and enabling capacity building of remote universities like KIU and said that the efforts of universities must be to become economic hubs. He said that Pakistan needs to diversify its export basket from a textile dominated to an innovation led export. Over 100 participants of the conference including students, researchers, faculty members from various universities were present in the inaugural ceremony.
Earlier, while welcoming the participants of the conference, Rector COMSATS University, Prof. Dr. Muhammad T Afzal called on researchers to focus on local problems and engage in product-oriented research. Citing the example of Tesla Energy, he said that, a single corporation was able to amass revenues and create several thousand jobs during the covid pandemic. Furthermore, Prof. Afzal said that by understanding the chemistry of a single plant like industrial hemp, the west has built a billion-dollar sustainable industry around products like hemp-oil, biochar, biodiesel, pharmaceuticals, textiles, fertilizer, water cleaning adsorbents, bio-ethanol, Hemp-lime concrete and paper.
Prof Atta Ullah Shah, Vice Chancellor KIU in his remarks about building cooperation in research informed how KIU was transforming skills of students of the northern areas. He said exchanges and cooperation between remote and urban universities enables capacity building for both universities and is healthy for national integration. Prof. Atta highlighted the need for research on medicinal plants in order to benefit from the potential of diverse flora and fauna of the northern areas of Pakistan.
Dr. Sana Sabahat, Chair of the Conference, informed the audience about key lectures from International Professors as well as highlights of research work being presented at the conference.
