Islamic countries have the resources to match the west, scientist
Regional, Economics, 6/28/2000

Islamic nations have the resources and the capabilities to be on par with the developed countries of the world as they own 50 % of the world's oil resources and 40 % of global agricultural output, a Muslim scientist was quoted as saying Wednesday by the Malaysian news agency Bernama.

Prof Anwar Hossain, Director-General of the OIC Islamic Institute of Technology in Dhaka, Bangladesh, said Muslims were well versed in the various sciences such as astronomy, mathematics, physics and medicine.

However present day facts showed that high-tech products from Muslim countries were far and few in between and a widening gap had developed between Islamic nations and others.

The lack of political will and determination, among other

things, had contributed towards the demise of the Islamic technological advances.

Prof Anwar said most of them could not divert their resources to research and development (R&D) as their immediate attention was to focus on providing basic needs such as food and shelter for their people.

Islamic countries need to show their political will and pool their resources and help bridge the widening gap in technological advancement between them and non-Muslim countries, he said.

Prof Anwar said they must formulate national policies and

translate them into joint programs of action to achieve the best results. "Muslim nations should advance in the area of aerospace industry, aviation technology, maritime sciences, transportation, electrical and electronic product technologies and penetrate the new emerging area -- Information technology," said Prof Anwar who is attending the 27th session of the foreign ministers of the Islamic Conference Organization, currently underway here.

He said there were many Muslim scientists working in developed and non-Islamic countries and their expertise could be tapped for the benefit of the Ummah. "We can't stop them from working in such countries but we can at least ask them to share their technological capabilities with Muslim countries," he said.

Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Youssouf Quedraogo said the OIC needed to set up a committee to pool the expertise of all Muslim scientists in a move to expand the technological capabilities of the Ummah.

"If you can control technology, you can control the development process," he said, adding Muslim countries, rich and poor, must strengthen their unity, help each other and share the technological know-how.

Previous Stories:
  COMSTECH meeting: Laraki urges Islamic countries to promote science, technology   (11/20/1999)
  ISESCO calls for scientific assistance to developing countries   (6/29/1999)

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