Amb. Askar Mussinov, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for Science and Technology, represented the Secretary General of the OIC at the official opening of the COMSTECH-SMIIC Training Course on "OIC/SMIIC Halal Products Standards and Testing", which was jointly organized by COMSTECH and the SMIIC in cooperation with the Islamic University in Uganda. The 5-day training course started on 22 August in Kampala, Uganda. Several dignitaries including Dr. Monica Musenero Masanza, Minister of Science, Technology & Innovation; Huda Abason Oleru, Minister of State for Defense and Veteran Affairs; Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator General, COMSTECH; İhsan ضVT, Secretary General, SMIIC; Prof. Ismail Simbwa Gyagenda, Rector, Islamic University in Uganda; David Livingstone Ebiru, Executive Director Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and Sheikh Ramadhan Mubajje, Mufti of Uganda. In his statement, Ambassador Askar Mussinov informed the participants that OIC Secretariat has recently initiated a number of capacity building programs to address the challenges faced by OIC Member States in Africa in the domains of Health, Food Security, Climate Change, Environment, and Water resources management. He assured the participants that this training course on Halal Products Standards and Testing was just a beginning of many other capacity-building programs soon to be carried out in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation for OIC African Member States. He appreciated the important role, played by COMSTECH in building indigenous capabilities of Member States in the fields of science and technology through cooperation and mutual assistance. He expressed hope that the existing cooperation between OIC General Secretariat, COMSTECH, SMIIC and Islamic University in Uganda will continue especially in the area of capacity building in OIC Member Countries in Africa.
