Republic of Yemen has joined the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South ( COMSATS ) as its 27th Member State here on Tuesday.
The membership agreement was signed by Mohammed Motahar Alshabi, Ambassador of Yemen to Pakistan, and Executive Director COMSATS, Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi, on behalf of Yemen and COMSATS, respectively.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Muhammad Azam Khan Swati was the chief guest on the occasion while Ambassadors and High Commissioners from different countries based in Islamabad, representatives of international organizations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister noted with satisfaction that Yemen’s accession to COMSATS, which he believed, is going to further build the edifice of the Organization and enlarge the scope of collaborative activities of the Commission.
“We look forward to an active engagement with Republic of Yemen in accordance with the aims and objectives of COMSATS,” the Minister said.
In her opening remarks, President, Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (IPD), Mrs. Farhat Asif, introduced her organization as Research, Advocacy, and Public Diplomacy Think Tank. She considered it a momentous occasion and hoped that Yemen would greatly benefit from COMSATS’ membership, especially the Yemeni students, faculty members and emerging scientist and academicians.
IPD and COMSATS have been collaborating for expansion of the latter’s membership since signing of an MoU between the two in 2017.
In his remarks after the signing ceremony, the Executive Director COMSATS welcomed Yemen as a member state, and hoped that the country would benefit fully from the programmes of the organization. These include, scholarship offers scholarships at COMSATS 22 Centres of Excellence in different Member Countries; multilateral research on important topics; capacity building activities; triangular cooperation.
He thanked the Minister for his Ministry’s continuous support to COMSATS.
The Ambassador of Yemen said that Yemen is honored to be part of COMSATS in view of its important standing in S&T-led development efforts for the South. He hoped for Yemen to benefit from COMSATS’ membership. He lauded both COMSATS and IPD for making it possible.