On the morning of December 19, President Hu Zhijian met with Manzoor H. Soomro, President of the ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) and Dato Lee Yee Cheong, Chairman of the International Science Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) under the auspices of UNESCO.

Prof. Manzoor and Dato Lee Yee Cheong spoke highly of the implementation of science, technology and innovation policies of the Chinese government under the Belt and Road Initiative, and expressed the hope to strengthen cooperation with Chinese institutions involved in science and technology policies. President Hu Zhijian expressed the willingness to establish a cooperative relationship between the CASTED and the ECOSF on the basis of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, strengthen cooperation on open innovation, deepen mutual understanding through seminars and personnel exchanges, and establish a cooperation mechanism in due course to promote common development.

ECOSF was established on December 20, 2011 in Islamabad, Pakistan. It has ten member states, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Foundation aims to achieve common socio-economic development in the region by promoting scientific and technological research cooperation in Central Asia and relevant activities among member states. The Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan provides funding for this intergovernmental organization and the Foundation provides financial support for scientific and technological research cooperation projects on a competitive basis.