Pakistan and Ethiopia have established a Joint Rectors’ Forum to strengthen academic, scientific and technological cooperation between leading institutions of the two countries.
The forum, formed under the facilitation of the OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, commonly known as OIC-COMSTECH, brings together 10 institutions, five from Pakistan and five from Ethiopia. Officials said the initiative is aimed at expanding research collaboration, academic mobility and institutional partnerships in higher education, health sciences and advanced technologies.
The announcement was made during the OIC-COMSTECH-Ethiopia-Pakistan Joint Forum, held in Islamabad through video conference on June 16, 2026.
OIC-COMSTECH Coordinator General Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary outlined key areas of cooperation during the session. Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Dr. Oumer Hussien Oba, also addressed the forum and highlighted Ethiopia’s focus on building a knowledge-based economy through science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
According to officials, Ethiopia’s 70:30 national education policy prioritizes STEM fields, while the country is also expanding its healthcare research capacity. The new forum is expected to link Pakistan’s university and research institutions with Ethiopia’s public health, science and technology sectors.
The Ethiopian institutions participating in the forum include Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Adama Science and Technology University, University of Gondar, and Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital under Addis Ababa University.
The Pakistani institutions include the University of Lahore, National University of Sciences and Technology, COMSATS University Islamabad, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, and the Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology.
The two sides will focus on joint research and development in advanced technologies and medical sciences. The forum will also support student exchange programmes, faculty mobility and institutional twinning arrangements between matched universities.
To move the initiative from agreement to implementation, Pakistan and Ethiopia have agreed to form a joint technical team that will guide future cooperation and help develop an operational framework.
As an early outcome of the forum, COMSATS University Islamabad announced 25 scholarships for Ethiopian students. Officials said the scholarships would support human resource development and provide a foundation for long-term academic engagement between the two countries.
OIC-COMSTECH also expressed willingness to host representatives of leading Ethiopian universities in Islamabad to further strengthen academic, research and institutional cooperation.
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