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Many of the global challenges we face today such as climate change, biodiversity loss, planetary health and plastic pollution are multi-sectoral and multi-faceted in nature and their solutions are underpinned by science and technology. But no one country can solve these problems alone. Hence, the need for science diplomacy!

The outcomes of Rio and subsequent UN global conferences draw their significance from the coming together of a wide range of stakeholders in government, the business sector, NGOs, civil society, and various interest groups. One of the key major groups is the science and technology sector. Many global challenges result from unbridled technological advances. However, their solutions also rest on science, technology, and innovation, or STI, which depends on the level of awareness and education that citizens are empowered with. Such an understanding can only be fostered through dialogues, not only within countries but between nations. Science diplomacy is one of the main vehicles to ensure this.

I applaud the efforts and extend my congratulations to ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø University for establishing such an institute which eventually will not only be for Malaysia and the region, but for the rest of the developing world. Best wishes to Prof Zakri, a good friend, and a long-time advocate of scientific advancement for the Global South, for this amazing accomplishment.

I wish you all the best in this endeavour.

Prof. Zakri is well known within the UN system as one of the true leaders in promoting science for sustainable development.

I came to know him up close when I was chairing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Scientific Advisory Board and he was one of the 26 eminent personalities on the panel. I found him to be very resourceful, collegial, and committed. He was then and still is, one of the strong voices to promote the close interface between science and policy and an advocate for the rightful place of science in the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030.

Therefore, I am very pleased to learn of his appointment as the founding director of this new institute. Science diplomacy assumes a very pivotal role in trying to solve today's sustainability challenges. With his long and extensive experience in international science and diplomacy, Prof Zakri is well placed to lead this institute.

I would like to congratulate Tan Sri Zakri and ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø on the timely establishment of the International Institute on Science Diplomacy and Sustainability (IISDS), which is the first of its kind not only in the ASEAN region, but also in the developing world. The current pandemic, which has hit the whole world hard, is without doubt a wake-up call for the global community to address the many critical concerns we are faced with, including climate change, energy crisis, food and water security, haze, and epidemics, among others. Accordingly, science and technology, tightly intertwined with society, play a crucial role in helping us find solutions. I believe that in dealing with such complex global challenges, this Centre of Excellence will contribute enormously in fostering connections at the intersection of science and diplomacy, between our budding scientists and our diplomats.

As a former president of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO), I recalled during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 in Johannesburg, like-minded organisations like the WFEO, International Council on Science, Third World Academy of Science, United Nations University, UNESCO and several others issued the Ubuntu Declaration calling for Education for Sustainable Development at all levels of education, including lifelong learning. Sustainable development is underpinned by science, technology, and innovation. Its understanding can be facilitated by science diplomacy, the practice of science dialogue among nations. Currently, there are few centres of excellence catering to this issue in the world. ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø University is to be congratulated for having the vision to establish one.