Host Country Agreement enables ECOSF to recruit international workforce from its Member Countries and host them at its Headquarters
The Government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan through Ministry of Science &Technology and the Economic Cooperation Organization Science Foundation (ECOSF) signed the Host Country Agreement on 15th December 2021. The agreement is based on Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations – 1961, which spells out the status and privileges to the diplomatic community and international organizations. Signing of the
Host Country Agreement enables ECOSF to recruit international workforce from its Member Countries and host them at its Headquarters in Islamabad. The Foundation is hosted and housed in the Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention that the ECOSF was established in Pakistan in December 2011 as an Inter-governmental organization and specialized agency of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) under the Treaty of Izmir, signed by all 10 ECO Members in 1995. The Member States include; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The organization is governed by its Board of Trustees, comprising of the Ministers responsible for Science and Technology of the Member States. The aims and objectives of the Foundation are to promote Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) based economic development in the ECO region. After the establishment, the Foundation started its formal working in June 2013 under the leadership of its Founder President, Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro. Since
then, ECOSF has been contributing in various fields including; science diplomacy, science policy, climate change, climate change education, inquiry based science education, engineering qualification standardization and international cooperation in the ECO region. The Foundation has developed excellent partnership with numerous international organizations and is very active in the Belt and Road Initiative of China for
SETI development and the Youth Engagement activities. After signing of the Agreement, it is hoped that the newly appointed President from Iran
will join the organization soon and other member states can also nominate their experts to work with the ECO Science Foundation.