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