Islamabad; 16 Jan 2020 – COMSATS is expanding its programs to Somalia and discussions on COMSATS’ programs to be expanded to its relatively newer Member States were made between the Ambassador of Federal Republic of Somalia to Pakistan, Her Excellency Khadija Mohamed Almakhzoumi, and Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi, Executive Director COMSATS, at the former’s office in Islamabad.
It was agreed that Somalia’s human resource development needs would be prioritized by COMSATS, especially by way of effective higher education opportunities. Somalia’s elated to benefit from a number of COMSATS’ post-graduate scholarships/post-doctoral fellowships available at its Centres of Excellence in different member countries: Pakistan (COMSATS University Islamabad and International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences), Kazakhstan (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University) and Egypt (National Research Centre). Specifically, twenty-five post-graduate scholarships are planned to be set aside for Somali students for studying at COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Islamabad.
The institutional and technical needs of Somalia would be catered through research facilities, faculty, student and research exchange among COMSATS 22 Member strong Network, and relevant partner organizations and institutions in 27 member states and around the globe. As COMSATS’ member state, Somalia is well placed to benefit nationally for S&T research through bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the Centres of Excellence in 20 countries. The Network of Centres of Excellence have a strong portfolio in a number of important fields, many of which have strong bearing on the UN’s 2030 Global Agenda; these include higher education and R&D, ICTs, Agriculture, Biotechnology, Mathematics and Engineering; Industrial technology and research; Health; Water Research; Climate Change and Environment; and chemical and biological sciences.
Appreciative of COMSATS’ programs, the Ambassador expressed satisfaction with the benefits Somalia is expected to make from its association with COMSATS, especially through the organization’s effective mechanism of South-South and Triangular Cooperation mechanism.
