HONG KONG : ISTIC participates in the 40th Annual Plenary Meeting of the InterAction Council
The International Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) participated in the 40th Annual Plenary Meeting of the InterAction Council, held in Hong Kong from 18 to 20 May 2026. The meeting serves as an important platform for dialogue and collaboration among political leaders, academics, and institutions from across the world.
ISTIC was represented by Azim Noor as part of the delegation of the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW), led by Ir. Choo Kok Beng, President of AETDEW, together with Academician Dato’ Ir. Lee Yee Cheong, Honorary President of AETDEW and Honorary Chair of ISTIC.
In his role as Programme Executive, Azim Noor supported ISTIC’s engagement in the fields of Artificial and Digital Technology. He participated in the AETDEW/InterAction Council Roundtable Session on “Sustainable Development in the Global South” held on 18 May 2026. During the session, he shared ISTIC’s ongoing initiatives and international partnerships in the areas of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and AI Education for the Global South.
During the plenary meeting, he highlighted ISTIC’s long-standing collaboration with the International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology (IKCEST) in advancing capacity-building programmes in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data for developing countries since 2017. He also talked on ISTIC’s latest initiative on AI Education, developed in collaboration with Chinese AI education experts and the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW) and Sri Bestari Private School. The initiative aims to organize annual workshops for primary and secondary school teachers from Malaysia and developing countries, with the objective of strengthening knowledge and teaching capacities in AI education.
The participation of ISTIC in this high-level international forum reflects the Centre’s continued commitment to fostering South-South cooperation and strengthening global partnerships with China and Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World (AETDEW). This collaboration is further reinforced through the joint development of a new AI Education for the Global South initiative, the AEGiS Consortium, an international platform dedicated to AI education, public awareness, teacher capacity development, and the advancement of South-South cooperation.
