Pakistan, US Conclude
Scientific Meeting on Optimistic Note
Dr
Atta ur Rehman |
Washington,
DC: Senior Pakistani and American officials ended a two-day
meeting here on Wednesday evening expressing satisfaction
with what had been achieved in bilateral scientific and
technical links and hoping to enhance the prospects for
economic growth emphasizing environmental protection, including
the impact of climate on Pakistan’s water resources
and agriculture.
The Pakistani side to the first meeting of the Joint Committee
on Science and Technology, which will next meet two years
from now, was led by Dr Attaur Rahman, adviser to the prime
minister on science and technology, while the US team was
headed by Dr Arden Bement, director of the US National Science
Foundation.
A joint statement issued at the end of the meeting and made
available to the press said that the two sides underscored
their resolve to expand US-Pakistan cooperation in the fields
of science, technology, engineering and agriculture. However,
no details were provided. It was agreed to set up working
groups, which after approval by their respective governments,
would remain in contact on a continuing basis through video
conferencing and other electronic means since there is a
running travel advisory from the State Department, warning
US citizens not to travel to Pakistan, which is considered
a dangerous country.
During the meeting a member of the Pakistan team suggested
that the working groups could meet in Dubai, a suggestion
that was beaten down by another member who stressed that
Pakistan is as safe as the United States, but what it suffers
from is an “image problem”. It was also pointed
out to the American side that there are 600 multinationals
working in Pakistan without any ill effects. “Since
the US and Pakistan are jointly fighting the war against
terrorism, they should also share its fallout,” a
member of the Pakistan delegation commented.
The joint statement said that in the second year of the
science and technology cooperation program, the two sides,
Pakistan has seen its capacity for technical education and
research increase in both public and private sectors. The
statement noted that in 2006, 11 new projects focused on
water management, engineering, food science, plant science,
forensic science and renewable energy had been funded. The
cost of these projects totaled nearly $5 million. To date,
Pakistan had committed $3.5 million to this initiative against
a US commitment of $2 million. In January this year, the
program announced grant awards worth more than $5 million
in support of 13 new collaborative projects in medicine,
agriculture, air quality and water resource management.
Three projects focusing on earthquake-related research were
also approved. Apart from these projects, 10 more multi-year
projects, funded in 2006, would continue in 2007 and beyond.
Part of the funding will come from Pakistan.
Dr Attaur Rehman told journalists after the meeting’s
conclusion that since he was not a politician, he could
speak freely. “In the past, Pakistan has been asking
for the wrong things from the United States, whereas education,
science and technology should have been our major thrust
areas.”
He said discussions held over the last two days had been
productive and would open up new opportunities in a variety
of areas and disciplines. “There is a lot of enthusiasm
on both sides that we need to work together to expand Pakistan-US
relationship in the field, we expect that as a result of
these interactions many new projects will open up between
the two countries,” he added.
His counterpart, Dr Adam Berment, agreed with him and pointed
out that the two sides had held a high-level intense dialogue
on expanding cooperation in future programes in several
important fields. He said during the meeting, both short
and long-term opportunities for expanding bilateral cooperation
had been identified and the working groups to be formed
would flesh out those initiatives through an ongoing process.”
He noted that the two sides have benefited from representation
by the private sector, academia and non-governmental organizations.
Dr Attaur Rehman said in answer to a question that the meeting
had also discussed the use of information technology and
networking which would include high speed computing, access
to the latest networks, the up-gradation of the Pakistan
Educational Research Network to the next level involving
high speed computing and linkages with US institutions.
He said there was also discussion on improvement in digital
library programs begun earlier with US assistance that today
provide Pakistani students all over the country, including
the remotest areas, access to 22,000 international journals.
He called it a great source of learning that was not available
in the past. Even the best libraries had no more than four
or five international journals.
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