Zubair Qureshi
With an aim to provide training by foreign experts in areas including climate change, intellectual property rights, higher education, leadership, and energy policy International Centre for Training and Development (ICTD) has been inaugurated at COMSATS Secretariat.
The Centre is the result of joint endeavours of COMSATS and American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) under an agreement signed between the two earlier this year in January 2018.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of the ICTD, Executive Director COMSATS, Dr SM Junaid Zaidi called it of immense value and emphasized the need for human resource development and capacity building of scientific community in the developing countries to bring them at par with the developed ones.
He said lack of training and leadership causes setbacks in all sectors and leadership and decision-making skills can be inculcated in the youth through expert training programmes which can help achieve sustainable development in the South.
President of AIPS, Dr Farhat Haq in her inaugural remarks called establishment of the centre an important step in networking between the US-based experts and relevant actors in Pakistan.
Dr Haq highlighted the need for translating and aligning expertise from the North with local needs and challenges. She anticipated that the established Centre would benefit COMSATS network in the developing countries and would also help activate intellectual resources available in AIPS network of 44 universities and 28 research centers.
