STATEMENT OF THE 43rd GOVERNING BOARD
OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Moscow, Russian Federation
28 June 2007

The Governing Board of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) held its 43rd meeting in Moscow, Russian Federation. 

Representatives from 12 ISTC Parties attended with Canada, the European Union, Japan, Russian Federation, United States of America, and Georgia represented on the Governing Board. Georgia participated as rotating CIS Board member.

The Governing Board invited the Republic of Belarus to participate as CIS Board Member in 2008 for a period of one year. 

The Governing Board approved the extension of three years of Leo Owsiacki in the position of the Canadian DED through December 31, 2010 and the extension of one year of Laura Schmidt Williams in the position of the US DED through December 4, 2008.

The ISTC approved 26 new projects representing over $0.8 million and Euro 6.3 million in new funding for activities in Russia, Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. These projects highlight important areas of science and technology research and development. The Governing Board announced that 16 new Partner projects have been funded for approximately $6.8M since its last meeting.

The Governing Board considered the ISTC Vision Statement/Strategic Plan submitted by the Working Group established at GBM42. It commended the WG for its efforts. It agreed that the ISTC Vision Statement/Strategic Plan should go through the completion of internal consideration procedures in capitals within 2 months.

The Governing Board was informed by the secretariat about developments since its previous meeting related to the issue of access to institutes for auditing and monitoring purposes. The Governing Board welcomed the constructive discussion that has ensued since its last meeting as documented by the numerous contributions received from Parties and Institutes. At the same time, the Board requested the secretariat to continue to work closely with the Russian Party and to invite the Parties to meet in the format of an ad hoc Working Group when a significant number of new practical proposals will have been elaborated.

The CA, EU and US Funding Parties have approved additional funding of 300,000USD for the Fuel Cell Targeted Initiative project. This additional funding is equally shared between these three Parties. With this additional funding the project will be extended by 18 months through December 31, 2008. 

The Governing Board agreed to convene the next Plenary Session on December 6, 2007 in Moscow.