‘Sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction can be achieved by augmenting global trade’

ISLAMABAD: Sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction can be achieved by augmenting international trade which can only be possible through robust accreditation, certification, quality and testing infrastructure, said Ghulam Muhammad Memon, Secretary Ministry of Science and Technology.

This, he stated while addressing a seminar on “Accreditation for Quality Assurance and Socio-economic Development in OIC Countries”, organised by the COMSTECH and the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) jointly to celebrate the accreditation day here on Wednesday.

Memon said the event emphasizes the importance of accreditation and its role for socio-economic development. He further said that sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction can be achieved by augmenting international trade which can only be possible through robust accreditation, certification, quality and testing infrastructure recognized by the relevant international forums.

He appreciated COMSTECH and the PNAC joint initiative to strengthen accreditation bodies to enhance the conformity and assessment quality in Pakistan and least-developed African countries.

The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ambassador Askar Mussinov said in his message the OIC is at the same page in celebration of the accreditation day.

He said that it is of immense importance to ensure the quality measurement for the socio-economic development of any country. He said that accreditation and conformity assessment play a major role in achieving technical competence, integrity and impartiality of organizations along with making them to conform with the international standards.

He said that International standards organizations also open ways to secure markets to provide sale able products. He said that accreditation organizations help in reducing the human impact on the environment.

Mussinov commended COMSTECH for its numerous capacity-building initiatives for the least-developed member states to help them to acquire knowledge and skills.

Coordinator General COMSTECH Prof Dr M Iqbal Chaudhary shed light on the importance of accreditation for OIC member states. Prof Chaudhary said that accreditation is an extremely important approach towards standardization of the processes and products, analytical and diagnostic methods, scientific research or even business. He said that accreditation is now globally accepted as the gold standard of best practices in all forms of human endeavors.

He briefed the audience about the large portfolio of S&T capacity-building programmes of COMSTECH in its 57 member states, as well as its role in Pakistan’s science diplomacy initiative.

The Director General PNAC, Ismat Gul Khattak, gave a comprehensive talk on the importance of accreditation in achieving sustainable economic growth. She talked about the PNAC initiatives and achievements.

She said that PNAC can collaborate with OIC member states to provide accreditation training, develop pool of assessors, help in capacity building, share experiences, conduct joint assessment, provide accreditation services and conduct peer evaluation.

The President of Kazakhstan National Center of State Scientific and Technical Expertise (NSCTE), Prof Dr Adil Ibrayev, joined the session through Zoom. He talked about the aims, objectives and current achievements of NSCTE. Prof Ibrayev offered collaboration of NSCTE with COMSTECH, PNAC, and the OIC member states to work together.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022