ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE) of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), led by Dr. Yousaf Jamal, visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and showed readiness to work with the local industry for developing optimum solutions to its various problems. Dr. Anwar Baig, Dr. Sher Jamal, Dr. Faheem Khokhar, Dr. Muhammad Arshad and Dr. Salah-ud-Din Azad accompanied the members of the delegation.
Speaking to the delegation, Dr. Yousaf Jamal and other members of NUST delegation said that the IESE has the capacity to develop the treatment plants and find solutions to various problems of industry. He said that steel, marble, flour and other industries were generating lot of waste material that could be recycled and utilized for producing by-products. He said universities are engaged in various R&D activities however, due to lack of industry-academia linkages, industry could not take benefit from the R&D efforts of universities for its better development and growth. He said industry should come forward and share its problems so that IESE could work to find out their optimum solutions. It was discussed that flourmills need lot of water for its manufacturing activities and the IESE would work with some local flourmills to minimize their water needs and recycle their used water for further usage. Both sides resolved that they would develop close liaison to facilitate the industrial development in the region.
Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that developing strong industry-academia linkages was the need of the hour for sustainable economic growth of the country. He said developed countries achieved fast growth by developing strong industry-academia linkages, but Pakistan was far behind in these efforts. He said universities are producing good R&D work that is being published at international level however, due to lack of coordination, industry and academia could not achieve mutually beneficial results as yet.
He said Europe and West are the major destinations for Pakistan’s exports, but these countries are now pressing for strict compliance of standards and certifications. He said if local industry showed slackness in compliance of international standards, it would lose exports in international markets. He stressed that universities should help industry in meeting the requirements of standards and certifications.
He said that, for ensuring sustainable joint ventures and partnerships with Chinese counterparts, our local industry needs to adopt best business practices and upgrade technology & machinery. He said academia could cooperate with industry in realizing these objectives. Muhammad Naveed, Senior Vice-President ICCI thanked the NUST delegation for visiting the Chamber and hoped that strong collaboration between the ICCI and NUST would lead to resolving key issues of local industry.
The representatives of various local industries shared their problems with the academia and said they were ready to work with universities for resolving the highlighted issues.
