UN Secretary-General Thanks PM Najib For Successful UN-SAB Meeting In May

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon thanked Prime Minister Najib Razak for the success of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) meeting held, here, in May this year. The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) in a statement Monday said the meeting was co-chaired by the United Nations Educational, Sciencific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) director-general Irina Bokova and a member of the United Nations Scientific Advisory Board (UN-SAB) Prof Zakri Abdul Hamid. According to the statement, Ban had expressed particular appreciation for the vital recomendations that the 26-member multinational and multidisciplinary UN-SAB provided on the science policy interface and the role of science, technology and innovation (STI) in the context of the elaboration of a post-2015 development agenda. The UN-SAB members had also updated Ban on the current work of the board, crediting him for "making science not only an observer but an advisor" in the post-2015 development process. The statement said Ban had invited the UN-SAB to continue advising him through valuable scientific inputs in the upcoming critical phase of the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to which continued close dialogue between scientists and policy-makers will be key. Both Bokova and Zakri had reiterated that integration of STI in the implementation of SDGs at the country level would be key for the success of the future sustainable development agenda. They said that multistakeholder collaboration, the creation of an enabling policy environment and strengthening the national scientific capacities, including through science, technology, engineering and Maths education were vital factors in this regard. "Countries need to commit to significant and adequate investment in STI and R&D in order to harness the full potential for STI to provide concrete solutions to the post-2015 development challenges," said Zakri. --BERNAMA