On the afternoon of July 5, LEE Yee Cheong, former chairman and Council member of the International Science Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation under the Auspices of UNESCO (ISTIC) visited the CASTED. Hu Zhijian, Executive Director of CISTRAT and President of CASTED, received the ISTIC delegation.

LEE Yee Cheong gave a brief introduction to ISTIC. Hu Zhijian briefly introduced the basic situation and progress of the International Research and Training Centre for Science and Technology Strategy (CISTRAT), a UNESCO category-2 center set up within the CASTED. The two sides discussed different modes of operation and successful experiences of international think-tanks and UNESCO category-2 centers. Hu Zhijian said that ISTIC’s regional training services of scientific and technological innovation, joint training with foreign institutions and other practices are highly effective. At the same time, he expressed the hope for ISTIC and CISTRAT to work together under the “Belt and Road” framework to make use of UNESCO’s international platform. LEE Yee Cheong proposed for ISTIC and CISTRAT to leverage their international resources and comparative strengths, and make joint efforts to ensure category-2 centers for scientific and technological innovation play their due role and better fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations.

The staff of CISTRAT Secretariat also attended the meeting.

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ISTIC, founded in 2008, is the first UNESCO category-2 center on South-South cooperation, mainly focusing on science, technology and innovation incubation, entrepreneurship spirit cultivation and women and children training.