First int’l seminar on China-Pakistan science, technology cooperation held in Beijing

Beijing: The first international seminar on “China-Pakistan Science and Technology Enterprises Cooperation” was held in the recently established China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Center, Beijing.

The seminar, participated by more than 30 Science and Technology organizations, was co-hosted by Zhongguancun, the Belt and Road Industrial Promotion Association (ZBRA) and the Embassy of Pakistan in China.

While introducing the development of Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, Lu Yinming shared the achievements of the park.

He informed that in 20 years of development, the park has gathered nearly 20,000 high-tech enterprises represented by Lenovo and Baidu, forming six advantageous industrial clusters such as the next-generation Internet, mobile Internet and a new generation of mobile communications, satellite applications, biology and health, energy conservation and environmental protection, rail transit, and four potential industrial clusters such as integrated circuits, new materials, high-end equipment and general aviation, new energy and new energy vehicles, and high-end development of modern service industries etc.

While introducing the construction of the China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Center, the President of ZBRA, Zhang Xiaodong shared that the objectives of the Center viz., to build a bridge between China-Pakistan youth innovation and entrepreneurship; to open up China-Pakistan science and technology cooperation channels; to build a technology transfer cooperation platform; to provide scientific and technological support for China-Pakistan production capacity cooperation, and to strengthen the foundation for China-Pakistan scientific and technological exchanges.

He informed that under the framework of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Center will prepare a cooperation plan for China-Pakistan science and technology enterprises, dock the development needs of artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, financial technology, biotechnology, agriculture and other fields, gather innovative elements and financial resources, and serve Chinese technology enterprises to develop in Pakistan.

Science and Technology Counsellor in the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, Khan Muhammad Wazir after conveying the good wishes of Pakistan’s Ambassador to the participants, presented Pakistan’s need for scientific and technological cooperation.

He pointed out that there is great potential for scientific and technological cooperation between China and Pakistan in the fields of emerging technologies, advanced and new materials, green energy technologies, digital economy, smart cities, minerals and natural resources, modernization of agriculture and Industry through technology and innovation, biodiversity and climate change, disaster mitigation and prevention, food processing technologies, herbal medicines, ocean sciences, transport and highway technologies, space sciences, ocean sciences, aeronautics and aerospace, medical technologies, drug discovery and vaccine development.

He also shared with the participants that under BRI and CPEC, Pakistan and China are focusing to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, encouraging people-to-people exchanges, establishing joint research laboratories, cooperating on the establishment of technology and hi-tech Parks, facilitating technology transfer initiatives, promoting quality scientific research in new and high-tech and enhance innovation capacity through joint research and development to establish institutional linkages, to initiate cooperation on STEM Education and Science Popularization and to establish an international think tank for S&T and economic development.

Khan Muhammad proposed that a coordination committee comprising of representatives from ZBRA, the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, Ministries of Science and Technology, China and Pakistan, Chinese Academy of Sciences and STZA etc needs to be constituted joint operate the China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Center located in Beijing.

Representatives of participating institutions both public and private delivered presentations and expressed their willingness to cooperate with Pakistan in their respective areas and they agreed to hold separate meetings with ZBRA and the Embassy of Pakistan for practical cooperation.

In the end, the seminar proposed that the 2nd international Seminar of the China-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Center will be held in Pakistan at the end of this year or early next year.