KARACHI: The heads of the Chinese universities in Hainan and Pakistani universities in Sindh have agreed to set up mutually and equally funded Pakistan-China research centres in the universities of the respective provinces of the two countries to launch joint research projects. The universities of Pakistan and China also initially agreed to launch student exchange programmes for short-term courses and proposed to plan for long-term courses in future. This was discussed in a session on the concluding day of the three-day Sindh-Hainan Universities Forum workshop organised by Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) at a local hotel. The representatives of the four universities from Hainan province and 13 universities of Pakistan discussed issues involved in the students and faculty exchange programmes, which included visa process and fund transfers. The representatives decided that the universities of both the countries would send their students to each other for four week and six week courses who would be issued with guest visas. The host universities would provide academic assistance, food and lodging to visiting students. While presiding over a session, Hainan University President Prof Jianbao Li said, “There should be a platform where we could share information with each other. We should launch joint programmes, for which I place an offer for our Pakistani researchers that they will be welcomed for any research that would be of interest for both the countries and we will fund it”. He proposed that his university is ready to fund research projects in several fields that have shared interest for both the brotherly countries. He said universities of the two nations should set up joint research institutes in the universities located in each other’s countires. He said universities of both the countries could launch joint research projects for which Hainan University would be pleasingly funding. He said projects that are related to ocean studies, issues and conflicts and those related to the CPEC that help aware the Chinese investors willing to invest in the project about risk evolution would be highly welcoming. SMIU Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh said, “His university is ready to be involved in mutually conducted research projects and provide funds equal to its Chinese counterpart. He said Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had allocated $1 billion for universities and Sindh government is generously supporting the SMIU for its research endeavours. Dr Shaikh said China is emerging as the world’s economic power and it is apart from other things, is concentrating on constructing trade routes and Pakistan should grab the opportunity to get most of the fact that it had brotherly relations with the Asian giant. The SMIU VC said that by engaging in joint research both the countries would be benefiting from it. He said the development had its problems as on one hand, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would have huge economic benefits for both the countries, but on the same side, it is bound to create certain social problems as well. He said that as CPEC would progress, it would create displacements of communities, force cultural adjustments as new industries would create cultural differences and all those problems are worthwhile to be addressed. Dr Shaikh said, “China and Pakistan should collaborate to address those issues and here comes the role of researchers to help those engaged in development process”. He said that the communication gap between the two countries could be removed by learning of national and regional languages of China and Pakistan. Institute of Business Management (IoBM) International Cooperation Head Dr Khalid Amin called for investment in applied research, which could contribute in well being of the society. He said that the developing world, Islamic nations in particular, are miserably lacking in this field. He said that the combined GDP of all the Islamic nations, 57 to be precise, is less than a single developed nation like the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany of Europe. He said that the superior technological knowledge played an important role in the development of nations. While giving the state of affairs with reference to research in the developing countries, he said 95 percent of the research is purely for academic consumption, which largely remained unutilised and had little relevance to the society. He said, “We need to rely on applied research,” adding, “His institution had research ties with at least 60 universities of various countries and those universities are engaged in meaningful research that could be used for the sake of development of the society. He suggested that there is a need to produce graduates who are tailor-made to be used in China and Pakistan for conducting applied research. Hainan Tropical Ocean University Vice President Prof Yang Ziju and Li Huiyan of Sanya University also spoke on the occasion. At the conclusion of the Sindh Hainan Universities Forum, representatives of 13 universities of Pakistan’s signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with four universities of China’s Hainan province. Under the MoUs, the universities of both the countries agreed to cooperate with each other in future for the purpose of research and student and faculty exchange programmes.