During Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to the United States, the United States and Pakistan signed a five-year extension of the U.S.–Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. State Department Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani signed the agreement to expand relations between the U.S. and Pakistani scientific and technological communities, and were joined by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren.

Since its inception in 2003, this Agreement has provided a framework to strengthen scientific, technological, and engineering capabilities for both our countries, helping foster mutual prosperity and economic growth. Under the auspices of the U.S.–Pakistan Agreement, our governments have jointly funded nearly $30 million worth of collaborative research projects through the U.S.–Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperation Program. In total, the Program has supported 83 cooperative research projects between U.S. and Pakistani researchers in food security, public health, Earth sciences and disaster management, engineering, water, energy, materials science, information technology, and ethics.

The collaboration fostered by this Agreement has resulted in hundreds of publications and a number of projects that have produced prototypes and patents. One example of the research financed through this Program is the “Small-scale sewage treatment and wastewater reuse system for Pakistan,” a joint project between George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. A number of U.S. project scientists are of Pakistani origin, highlighting the Pakistani-American diaspora’s role in promoting research collaboration. Through this collaboration, over 10,000 Pakistanis have received training, and over 100 Pakistanis have made exchange visits to the United States, a significant portion of which have been women or girls.

The extension of the Agreement follows on the success of the first U.S.–Pakistan Science and Technology Program Symposium on Economic Growth, held in Islamabad, Pakistan, in January 2013. The symposium brought together scientists, entrepreneurs, government officials, and the media to discuss topics including forming university technology transfer offices, protecting intellectual property, and forging successful public-private partnerships.