Those who are ahead in OIC states come forward and provide leadership for changing attitude towards the adaptation of new technologies to achieve success in all spheres of life, said the President of Pakistan,
Dr. Arif Alvi while addressing the inaugural session of “Youth Forum on Biotechnology” organized by COMSTECH in collaboration with Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum, Turkiye and Islamic Organization for Food Security, Kazakhstan. Dr. Alvi said that biotechnology is a landmark development, without this technology the green revolution could not have been possible. He said we need to develop intellect and evolve new ideas. He said that the scientific instruments guide the humanity to find the truth. The President mentioned that new technologies like gene therapy and CRISPR techniques help the humanity to make tailor made specific changes in the genome to develop new traits of any living being. The President mentioned many examples from the past like human body dissection and the printing press innovation and said we adopted these technologies many centuries late which is the reason of our lacking behind from the advanced world. Dr. Alvi urged the young scientists to work hard and come up with novel and innovative ethical and moral solutions for the humanity and quick adoption of the new technologies for the rapid growth of the developing world. He asked COMSTECH to take the lead in the prompt adaptation of emerging technologies in OIC region. Coordinator General COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary welcomed the participants of the forum. He said that this forum is significant to address the challenge of food security. He urged the need of the introduction and use of new technologies and better management to tackle the issue of food security faced by OIC states. He said that agricultural biotechnology will help in producing enough food to feed the hunger.
Director IOFS, Dr. Ismail Abdel Hamid said that the biotechnology is critical for the human development and achieving food security. He said that this forum will help us to explore new avenues, generate novel ideas and methodologies to understand the biotechnology and its use to address the issue of food security. Dr. Hamid presented a brief review of IOFS program and projects. CEO of Young Business Hub, Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum, Mr. Sami Serdar, expressed solidarity, condolences and prayers for the recent flood victims in Pakistan. He said today we are here for youth that want a big change for the better future. He said technologies are playing an important role for the betterment of human life and biotechnology is playing important role in our daily life to address the global issues. Mr. Serdar suggested a united effort with solid continued commitment. The inaugural session was attended by the Ambassadors/Diplomats of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Somalia, Qatar, Iraq, and Uzbekistan. This three-day forum is being attended by more than 170 national and international in-person participants, whereas many people are attending this forum from 35 OIC states member online. More than 30 local and international scholars will give lectures during this forum.