Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), today at the headquarters of the Organization, received Mr. Chu Yuan, Assistant Director General of Huawei Company in the Kingdom of Morocco, and together they explored ways of cooperation between ICESCO and Huawei in the fields of education, science and culture.

During this meeting, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed that ICESCO’s new vision advocates openness to non-Member States, regional and international organizations, and civil society institutions in such a way as to serve ICESCO Member States and Muslim communities around the globe, while highlighting that ICESCO developed a new Charter of the Observer States, and calls upon all non-Member States to join the Organization as observer members.

In the same vein, ICESCO Director General reviewed the major initiatives, projects and programmes launched by the Organization to support the efforts geared toward countering the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly ICESCO Prize for Fighting Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), with US$200,000 in prize money, to be awarded to anyone who discovers an efficient treatment or preventive vaccine against the virus; and “ICESCO Digital Home” which has become a rich knowledge platform targeting all categories and covering all ICESCO’s fields of action; as well as the initiative “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition” which targets through its executive projects and field programmes the poor and affected countries.

On his part, Mr. Yuan lauded ICESCO’s action supporting the efforts of countering the COVID-19 pandemic while pointing out that Huawei devotes great attention to its social responsibility by providing aid to the local communities in the host countries of Huawei’s branch offices, and offering scholarships to students to pursue their studies on technology in China.

The discussion also covered the prospects of cooperation between ICESCO and Huawei, particularly in the fields of education and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as the technological studies and research works.

The meeting was attended from ICESCO by Dr. Ahmed Said Bah, Director of the Sector of Partnerships and International Cooperation; Dr. Barry Koumbou, Director of the Sector of Education; and Ms. Rime Jirari, Head of the Department of Organizations and Institutions at the Sector of Partnerships and International Cooperation; and from Huawei Ms. Chaymae Salhi, Public Relations and Governmental Affairs Officer.