China, Comstech to cooperate in promoting biotech, medicines

Islamabad:A high-level delegation of Chinese scientists and Industrialists visited the Comstech secretariat on Thursday to promote cooperation for research and development in the fields of natural products, biotechnology, public health and traditional medicine through institutional and industrial linkages between China and OIC member states.

The delegation visit also aimed to help strengthen academic and research initiatives between the People’s Republic of China and the OIC member states. The delegation consisted of top-tier leadership of industries in the area of traditional medicine. Participants from several OIC member states also joined the discussions virtually.

OIC member states such as Pakistan, Iran and Indonesia are already exploring traditional medicines in their own capacity. Through this collaboration, Comstech seeks to liaison between OIC member states and Chinese institutions for strengthening cooperation in the field of healthcare.

To strengthen this collaboration and enhance networking, Comstech organised this dialogue which included a series of key talks on the subject by scientists, and representatives of pharmaceutical industries of China. The event was attended by researchers, relevant personnel from the research laboratories and industries and representatives from the embassies of the OIC member states in Islamabad.

The aspects of collaboration such as set up of Joint labs, exchange programs for scholars of OIC member states and product-based research were also discussed. Coor­dinator Ge­n­eral Comstech, Prof. Dr M. Iqbal Choudhary gave a comprehensive briefing to the delegation on Comstech programmes and initiatives, its scope and avenues of collaboration.

He explained the avenues for Sino-Comstech collaboration for the development of natural products, biotechnology, public health and traditional medicine in OIC member states. Prof. Choudhary briefed the delegation on various ways of institutional cooperation, capacity building, the establishment of traditional Chinese medicine clinics and research labs.