ISLAMABAD ( STAFF REPORT )
The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) have agreed to work together for promoting industry-academia linkages in order to produce demand-driven students who could contribute towards improving industrial productivity and boost industrialization in the region. This consensus was reached during a visit of a delegation of MUML led by its Rector Maj. Gen. Muhammad Jaffar HI(M) (Retd) to ICCI. Dr. Muhammad Zubair Iqbal Pro-Rector Research and Dr. Faid Gul, Head of Department of Management Sciences were in the delegation.
The delegation held a meeting with Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, ICCI and discussed with him the importance of strong industry-academia linkages for commercialization of innovative business ideas of students in order to improve the industrial development and economic growth of the country. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI and Muhammad Aslam Khokhar Executive Member ICCI were also present at the occasion.
Maj. Gen. Muhammad Jaffar HI(M) (Retd), Rector, NUML said that universities could help the local industry in improving its productivity, efficiency and competitiveness through strong academia-industry linkages. He said that research departments of universities were conducting good research work in various fields, but due to lack of coordination, local industry was not benefiting from these research projects. He urged that industry should share its problems with universities so that academia could find out their optimum solutions. He said that NUML has established a dedicated block for display of industrial products and ICCI should cooperate in showcasing the potential of local industrial products through their display in that facility. The delegation also briefed the ICCI team about the initiatives of NUML for promoting quality education in various disciplines and languages.
Addressing the NUML delegation, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President ICCI said that in this age of knowledge economy where technologies were changing fast, industries were increasingly relying on technology-driven solutions for enhancing productivity. He said that universities being the hub of research activities should play a bigger role in finding out innovative solutions to the key issues of industry and the society at large. He emphasized that universities should focus on applied research to accelerate the pace of industrialization. He said that over 60 percent of the population of Pakistan was comprised of youth and universities should focus on fostering entrepreneurship in students to make them job creators instead of job seekers. He said ICCI was ready to cooperate with NUML in placement of its students as interns in local industrial units. He appreciated the efforts of NUML for providing quality education to students and hoped that close collaboration between ICCI and NUML would yield beneficial results for students and industry.
Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI and Muhammad Aslam Khokhar Executive Member ICCI also shared various ideas for developing strong industry-academia linkages to strengthen the economy.