Jeddah, (IINA) : A three-member delegation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), headed by Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan, visited Kazakhstan’s capital Astana on August 24-27, to hold further preparatory discussions on the OIC Summit on Science and Technology, to be held in Kazakhstan in 2017.

The visit is a follow-up to the discussions held between OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Abilfayizuly Idrissov. During the visit, the OIC delegation met with the Kazakh foreign minister, who underlined the importance that President Nursultan Nazarbayev attaches to the successful convening of the OIC Summit on Science and Technology.​

For his part, the assistant secretary general thanked the government of Kazakhstan for the offer to host the summit, pointing out that the forthcoming OIC Summit on Science and Technology will be the first ever heads of state and government level meeting.

“It will shape the future of science and technology agenda, reaffirm the commitment of the leadership to science and technology at the highest level and identify priorities, targets and recommended actions for the Muslim countries in the field of science and technology for the next decade,” Ambassador Khan said.

He gave an assurance that the OIC General Secretariat and the OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) will work in close coordination with the government of Kazakhstan for the success of the summit.