The OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) will hold its 15th General Assembly Meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan on 31 May-1 June 2016. It will preceded by the Executive Committee Meeting on 30 May. High on the agenda of the meeting is ‘'The Ten Year S&T Plan of Action for Development of Science and Technology in OIC states'' prepared by COMSTECH in consultations with eminent scientists from 20 Member States. This document identifies some basic priorities related in particular to education and skill development, health, energy and other infrastructure facilities which need to be present before advances in science and technology can emerge in Member States. After identifying the priority areas, recommendations are made for multidisciplinary research in emerging areas of basic and applied sciences and technology. Several ‘big' science initiatives are proposed which range from space sciences and astronomy to plasma physics and fusion, nanotechnology, as well as materials, computing, photonics, energy, food and water, climate change and management of big data/ cyber security, which are likely to have the highest potential for economic growth. An important component of the Plan is the Ibn Al HaithamProgramme, which is intended to encourage exchange of scientists across member States. To encourage new start-ups in high technology, a Venture Capital Fund has also been proposed for use in OIC countries. "Science and Technology, Higher Education, Health and Environment constitute crucial domains for the OIC and its specialized and affiliated institutions," said the OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani. "The transnational nature of the contemporary challenges of poverty, disease, environmental degradation, climate change, water and food security necessitate collective responses at the global level. All these problems have scientific dimensions and provide for a new role of science in international policy-making and diplomacy," he added, expressing confidence that the COMSTECH meeting will adopt concrete plans to address these challenges. The General Assembly will also hear reports from OIC institutions, including IDB, ISESCO and SESRIC, as well as from Islamic Universities in Uganda, Bangladesh and Niger on their activities in the fields of science and technology, health, education and the environment. COMSTECH is the Ministerial Standing Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, established by the Third Islamic Summit held in Makkah al Mukarramah/Taif in January 1981. The President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is its Chairman and the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as Co-Chairperson.
