Mr. Pedro Jose Sanz, Ambassador of Spain to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan visits ISTC Head Office at Nazarbayev University in Astana

On invitation by ISTC the Spanish Ambassador Pedro Jose Sanz visited on 20 November 2017 the organization’s HQ at Nazarbayev University in Astana. The ISTC’s Executive Director Mr. David Cleave debriefed the Ambassador on the activities of ISTC and its transformation, on the ongoing and upcoming ISTC regional projects, in particular in Central Asia and also in African and Middle Eastern countries. He thanked Spain for the country’s staunch support for ISTC and the participation of more than 80 Spanish institutes and universities in its activities.

The prospects for further and more intensive cooperation came under scrutiny, including the potential for ISTC-facilitated collaboration between the National Nuclear Centre in Kurchatov and CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), the Spanish public research body, focusing on energy and environment and the technologies related to them. Representatives of CIEMAT recently visited KZ National Nuclear Centre.

Ambassador Pedro Jose Sanz welcomed the outreach program of ISTC aimed at bridging research communities in various regions of the world. He suggested that ISTC may consider establishing contacts with CYTED the Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo. The organization was created ten years ago, includes 21 Latin American States and Spain, and promotes STI cooperation, involving more than twenty thousand researchers from some eight hundred institutes.

The meeting was also attended by Mr. Kamen Velichkov, ISTC SPM & Diplomatic Advisor.