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