The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote linkages between industry and academia and undertake joint research initiatives for the benefit of the industrial sector. Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan President ICCI and Dr. M. Zubair Iqbal, Pro-Rector, Research & Strategic Initiatives (R&SI) signed the MoU during a ceremony held at NUML University. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Rector NUML Major General Muhammad Jaffar HI (M) (Retd), Director General NUML/Pro-Rector Planning and Resources Brig Muhammad Badr Malik, Pro-Rector Academics Prof. Dr. Safeer Awan, Deans, Aslam Khokhar, Umar Hussain, Hafiz Bilal Munir, Omais Khattak and others were also present at the occasion.
By signing the MoU, both sides have agreed to work together to create linkages between industry and academia and promote research culture in industry to boost industrialization in the region and produce demand-driven graduates for the industry. ICCI would also facilitate the job placement of NUML students in its member companies besides providing them internship opportunities in local industries. NUML will include the sitting President ICCI or his nominee in its Corporate Advisory Board to get valuable input for development study programs and taking initiatives for creating strong partnership between NUML and ICCI.
Speaking at the occasion, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that strong industry-academia linkages were of vital importance to conduct research projects for industry to help it in producing value added products in order to improve exports. He said that universities should focus on applied research with a focus to resolve the key issues of industry and enhance industrial efficiency to make it more competitive for exports promotion. He hoped that the MoU signed between ICCI and NUML would be a step in the right direction to promote sustainable industry-academia linkages. He assured that ICCI would cooperate with NUML in providing internships to its students and their job placement in the local industry.
Rector NUML Major General Muhammad Jaffar HI (M) (Retd) said that it was high time to introduce research culture in our industry. Through research we can achieve the future demands of our industry and stressed that academia-industry linkages needed to be strengthened to attain this goal. He said that NUML can assist local industry in new developments and trends in businesses through research and ICCI can support NUML students by providing them opportunities to work practically in industry. He further 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.