ASTANA: Malaysia is ready to lend a helping hand to developing Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries to develop the science, technology and innovation (STI) industry in their respective countries.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said several OIC member countries have agreed on collaborations based on the bilateral meetings held prior to the OIC Summit which started Saturday.
He added that Uganda, for example, wants to emulate the framework for the STI policy that Malaysia is currently driving in its country.
“We also had a bilateral meeting with Turkey and Palestine yesterday (Saturday). There were different concerns but at the end of the day, our main concern is that we need to create jobs and we need to drive the economy.”
“Therefore, we cannot look at the STI sector on its own anymore. No country in the world has achieve the level of progress that they have achieved without STI,” Wilfred told the New Straits Times in an exclusive interview.
Wilfred is on a working visit to the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana to attend the OIC Summit 2017. It is the first OIC Summit that focuses on science and technology.
The summit will also see the Adoption of the Astana Declaration, which include the framework of the OIC 2025: Programme of Action and the Outcome Document of the Astana Summit.
Wilfred said the Astana Declaration would be a historic event as this is the first time that OIC would come up with its own specific documented agenda and declaration on ensuring the STI industry continues to be the driver of economy.
“It is crucial for Malaysia to play an active role to advocate the direction of this first ever declaration so that our interests would be well expressed, captured and embedded,” he added.
He also said that Malaysia has seen the science and technology industry as a driver to its economy and the country is pushing for more talents in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The OIC member states are developing countries from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Malaysia is one of the founding members of OIC since its establishment in 1969.
The OIC Summit in Astana was officially opened yesterday by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. The event was attended by various world leaders and head of states including the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain.