Zubair Qureshi
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 on Thursday.
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 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.
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.
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.
