KUALA LUMPUR, Friday, 27 April 2012: ICSU, the International Council for Science representing a global membership that includes both national scientific bodies (121 National Members representing 140 countries) and International Scientific Unions (30 members) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) today signed a Supplementary Agreement to enable the ICSU Regional Office to continue to be based in Malaysia until 2016.
The signing ceremony of a Supplementary Agreement to extend the original Agreement for another five years took place today, April 27th 2012 at the Le Meridien Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The Agreement was signed by the Secretary General of MOSTI, Dato’ Madinah Mohamad, on behalf of The Government of Malaysia and Dr. Steven Wilson the Executive Director of ICSU.
The original Agreement between the Government of Malaysia and ICSU for hosting the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) signed in September 2006 came to its completion after five years.
In her speech, Dato’ Madinah reaffirmed Malaysia’s support towards the fundamental of ICSU which is to propagate international science in order to benefit the masses. She mentioned that the presence of the ROAP in Malaysia represents the country’s contributions to international science, and wished the ROAP a productive five years to come.
Dignitaries from Malaysia and the region witnessed the signing ceremony. It marks a successful collaboration between MOSTI and ICSU in science, technology and innovation that will continue to strengthen over the next five years.
The Director of ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), Professor Emeritus Dr Mohd Nordin Hj Hasan FASc said “ICSU had benefitted tremendously from its relationship with MOSTI. It is now spearheading the regional inputs by scientists from Malaysia and the Asia Pacific in the Rio+20 process. This is to ensure that the voice of the scientific community in his region is heard in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012.
ICSU coordinates interdisciplinary research to address specific areas if investigation. The Council actively advocates for freedom in conduct of science, promotes equitable access to scientific data and information, and facilities science education and capacity building.
