Category: News update

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, headed by Mr. Didar Taminov, Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry. The two parties explored ways to promote cooperation between ICESCO and Kazakhstan in the Organization’s areas of competence.

During the meeting, held today, Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, the Director-General reaffirmed the Organization’s keenness to promote cooperation with its Member States and open up to non-Member States in order to exchange expertise and build partnership relations in the fields of education, science and culture.

The Director-General also highlighted the Organization’s major projects and programs, which it implements as part of its vision and strategic orientations, commending the cooperation between ICESCO and Kazakhstan in the implementation of a number of these activities.

For his part, Mr. Taminov expressed his delight to visit ICESCO Headquarters, commending the roles the Organization assumes in service of its Member States. He also reaffirmed his country’s keenness to promote cooperation with ICESCO in its areas of competence.

In the implementation of the new vision and strategic orientations of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), which encourages countries of the Islamic world to invest in modern technology and benefit from its potential to achieve sustainable development, ICESCO is holding a two-day forum and workshop on “Metaverse: Global Expectations and Challenges,” in the presence of a high-caliber group of officials from international organizations, institutions and companies as well as experts and researchers specialized in the field, to exchange knowledge and experiences and explore the challenges posed by modern technologies and how to deal with them.

The activities of the Forum started on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, with a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, then Dr. Raheel Qamar, Head of ICESCO Science and Technology Sector, presented a summary of the importance of the metaverse and its role in contributing to the development of the digital economy. The opening session kicked off with an address by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, in which he reaffirmed that the world is entering today a new dimension characterized by the metaverse and its capabilities that are not yet identified, indicating that this space allows for transcending borders and working and learning in an endless virtual space.

Dr. AlMalik stressed that the ICESCO’s Forum and Workshop on metaverse aims to provide a space for discussion and exchange of experiences, and to explore the use of metaverse technologies in the Organization’s Member States, referring to ICESCO’s efforts and initiatives to build global partnerships to benefit from metaverse applications.

In his speech, Dr. Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister of Education and Professional Training of Pakistan stressed the importance of the technology role and the opportunities it offers to meet the challenges of education, noting the need to adopt comprehensive and sustainable educational policies and curricula based on modern applications.

For his part, Mr. Baybars Altuntas, Chairman of World Business Angels Investment Forum, stressed the need to join international efforts to strengthen the economy by relying on startups, commending ICESCO’s efforts to push toward digital transformation.

The first session, which is entitled “Metaverse Experiments: Current Reality and the Virtual World,” touched upon metaverse technologies and the ethics of using them, by reviewing experiences presented by high-caliber officials and experts from MILO Space Sciences Institute, World Business Angels Investment Forum, as well as other specialized international companies and institutions, while the second session dealt with the techniques and trends of the metaverse, and the third session focused on issues of security and ethical privacy in metaverse applications.

Dr. Salim M Al-Malik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received a joint delegation from the Saudi Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and the World Bank Group, and together they explored tripartite cooperation in the field of women capacity-building and gender equality.

During this meeting, held on Monday (November 28, 2022), at ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik reaffirmed ICESCO’s keenness, within the framework of its vision and strategic orientations, to support women and build their capacities to contribute gender equality in the Member States in a way that serves sustainable development. He also reviewed the major programmes and projects of ICESCO.

For their part, the joint delegation expressed its desire to cooperate with ICESCO to join the ambitious programme on gender equality and hold training sessions and workshops and conduct in-depth studies in this field.
At the end of the meeting, the three parties agreed to continue coordination to develop cooperation plans and define the tasks to be assigned to each institution.

The delegation of the Institute of Public Administration included Dr. Sara Al-Otaibi, IPA Deputy Director-General for Partnerships and Business Development, Ms. Majd Al-Malki, Director of Gender Balance Statistics at the Gender Balance Center, and Ms. Hala Al-Saedi, Director of Local and Community Partnerships. The World Bank Group delegation consisted of Mr. Walid Malek, Senior Public Sector Specialist, and Ms. Clara Maghani, Public Sector Specialist for Global Governance Practices.

The meeting also saw the participation of Ms. Amira El-Fadil, Head of ICESCO Partnerships and International Cooperation Sector, and Ms. Rime Jirari, Head of the Organizations and Bodies Section at the Sector.

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) signed three agreements for cooperation and partnerships in the field of technology and innovation, on November 28, 2022, respectively with the Higher Education Commission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the World Business Angels Investment Forum, and the MILO Space Science Institute in the United States, during the conclusion of ICESCO’s Youth Training Programme on how to establish and develop small businesses in the field of technology and innovation.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, signed the first agreements with Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of the Pakistani Higher Education Commission. It includes joint action between the two parties to establish joint research projects and training programs in the field of higher education from 2023 to 2027 to promote the academic performance of researchers and university students of ICESCO Member States.

The second agreement was signed with Mr. Baybars Altuntas, Chairman of the World Business Angels Investment Forum, an affiliate partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), to build cooperation for implementing initiatives, programs and joint projects in the field of supporting the economic development of emerging companies in the countries of the Islamic world.

The third agreement was signed with Mr. David E. Thomas, Executive Director of the MILO Space Science Institute, signed the third agreement, which aims at implementing joint programs between ICESCO and the Institute to build capacity in the field of space sciences, entrepreneurship, technology, and youth development in the ICESCO Member States.

After the signing, Dr. AlMalik commended the three distinguished partnerships, hoping that the cooperation agreements would be a good start to support and assist young entrepreneurs and investors in Islamic countries and to pave the way toward better opportunities in the field of modern and advanced technologies. ICESCO’s partners, signatories to the agreements, expressed their happiness for the cooperation of their institutions with the Organization and with the countries of the Islamic world.

On Monday (November 28, 2022), the Headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in Rabat, witnessed a major international celebration marking the conclusion of the ICESCO Youth Training Programme on the Development of Small Technology and Innovation Businesses, with the participation of the 18 winning teams in the Programme’s competitions, which were held in six countries. The winners presented their projects before the jury, which selected 3 teams to receive funding for their projects.

The celebration witnessed high-level participation, including international officials, ministers, donor institutions and experts in the field of technology and scientific research.

It saw several discussion sessions on the importance of developing startups and qualifying women through entrepreneurship in the era of technology and digitization.

The celebration began with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, followed by a summary of the previous stages of the programme presented by Dr. Raheel Qamar, Head of ICESCO Science and Technology Sector.

In the opening session, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, underscored that the Organization seeks to promote creativity through its programmes, activities and forward-looking vision aimed at helping young entrepreneurs achieve economic development in their countries.

He also congratulated the participants in the programme, which was launched in 2021, aiming at promoting and sustaining start-ups in the Islamic world, launching more than 150 startups by the end of 2025, training more than 500 entrepreneurs, and developing about 60 creative project ideas.

In his address, Dr. Younes Sekkouri, Moroccan Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, stressed the importance of innovation for countries’ development and positive change, and the need to provide a suitable environment for young people to encourage creativity and consolidate innovation.

Afterward, in the high-level session on the importance of startups and future inclusive technology, the floor was given to Dr. AlMalik, Dr. Sekkouri, Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), and Dr. Mokhtar Ahmed, Chairman of the Higher Education in the Republic of Pakistan. Mr. Baybars Altuntas, President of the World Business Angels Investment Forum, moderated this session.

The two following sessions discussed ‘qualifying women through entrepreneurship in the digital era: trends and challenges,’ and ‘Start-ups… success stories and secrets,’ respectively.

After that, the 18 winning teams in competitions, held in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Nigeria, presented their projects to the jury, which consisted of experts and specialists in the fields of entrepreneurship and technology, to announce and award prizes to the three winners.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), received a delegation from the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, headed by Dr. Sara Al-Otaibi, IPA Deputy Director-General for Partnerships and Business Development, where they discussed ways to enhance cooperation between ICESCO and IPA in the areas of common interest.

At the outset of the meeting, held on Sunday (November 27, 2022) at ICESCO headquarters in Rabat, Dr. AlMalik reiterated his thanks to IPA and its Director General, Dr. Bandar bin Asad Al-Sajan, for their cooperation and the study conducted to develop the organizational structure of ICESCO.

He also reviewed the mainlines of ICESCO’s vision and strategic orientations, which are based on openness and partnership with all parties to serve the Islamic world through the implementation of a set of initiatives, programmes and projects aimed at building the capacities of women and youth, consolidating the values ​​of coexistence, tolerance and civilizational dialogue, respecting cultural diversity, and encouraging investment in modern technology potentials to achieve sustainable development.

For her part, Dr. Sara Al-Otaibi commended ICESCO’s role in serving its Member States and reviewed IPA’s efforts in the field of administrative organization and administrative development since its inception in 1961.

At the end of the meeting, the two parties agreed to cooperate with a view to preparing an agreement for implementing a set of programmes and projects for the benefit of a number of Member States.

Afterwards, Dr. AlMalik took IPA delegation on a tour of the exhibition of the International Fair and Museum of the Prophet’s Biography and Islamic Civilization, at ICESCO headquarters.

The delegation included Ms. Majd Al-Malki, Director of Gender Balance Statistics at the Gender Balance Center, and Ms. Hala Al-Saedi, Director of Local and Community Partnerships. The meeting also brought together Dr. Nidal Abuzuhri, Director of the Department of Administrative Affairs, Ms. Ramata Almami Mbaye, Head of Social and Human Sciences Sector, and Mr. Sami El-Kamhawy, Director of Information and Institutional Communication Department.