Muscat, Professor Daya Reddy, President of the

International Science Council (ISC) in France, praised the strategic

trend of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said’s policy regarding the

development of technology and science.

This came in a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA) on the

sidelines of the conference (Ocean Economy and Future Technology),

which is part of the agenda of the International Forum Science and

Technology Diplomacy (IFSTD), to be concluded later today.

Professor Daya Reddy pointed out that the Sultanate will host the

meeting of ISC General Assembly in 2021, which includes 140

countries and is considered a global voice of science, as this reflects

the Sultanate’s serious interest in promoting various sectors of science.

Professor Reddy said the Sultanate is the ideal place to host ISC

next meeting due to the clarity of the goals and plans in the field of

scientific development.

On his turn, Rear Admiral (retd) Khurshed Alam, an expert in the

Maritime Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh,

stressed the importance of the ocean economy for the ocean-bordering

countries because of its economic feasibility if it is utilized economically.

He described the Sultanate as a “maritime nation” due to its 3,165 km

coasts and its fisheries wealth, which give make it an important in the

world of the blue economy.

Dr. Atsushi Sunami, President of the Ocean Policy Research

Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF), said that

there are many mutual interests between the Sultanate and Japan,

especially in the ocean region, expressing his admiration over the

economic environment in the Sultanate to attract foreign investment,

making it an important partner for Japan in the Middle East.

“The Sultanate has an important position in the region and has

excellent relations with all its neighboring countries in particular and

the rest of the world in general, which reflects the success of Oman’s

diplomacy and foreign policy,” said William Colglazier, a scholar of

science and diplomacy at the American Association for the

Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Paul Arthur Berkman, Professor of Practice in Science Diplomacy,

Director of the Science Diplomacy Center at Tufts University, praised

the fact that “the Sultanate has no enemies” and is therefore a “special

case” because it is located in the Middle East, a very difficult and

complicated region, stressing that the conference reflects the spirit of

responsibility and long-term vision of the Sultanate’s government in

order to build a promising future for future generations.

In the context of the Ocean Economy and Future Technology

Conference, Ernesto Fernandez, Head of Science Policy and

Partnerships at the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO, said that the Sultanate is one of the few

countries in the world to have a scientific adviser to the Minister

Responsible for Foreign Affairs, which he considered as a “product of

awareness ” of the importance of attracting science and technology for

the development of countries.

Source: Oman News Agency