The Secretary-General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, Ambassador Dato’ Jaafar Ku Jaafar Shaari was invited by the International Ibn-i- Sina Institute (ISU) as the chief guest at the International Ibn-i-Sina Conference held at Kastamonu University, Turkey from 15-17th August 2018. The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilization from UK, Moral Foundation, Holland and the Turkish World Coordination Foundation (TUKOV) were the main partners of the event.

The event was organized to celebrate the 1037th Birth day of the great philosopher and polymath, Ibn-i-Sina and to discuss the D8 Healthcare Forum as well as Islamic Healthcare Civilizations and 1001 Cures. The D-8 Secretary- General and Professor Salim T.S. Al-Hassani were the guest speakers of the programme. The Secretary-General delivered a paper titled “ Islamic Science and Civilizations”. Other renowned people from the government, academia, private sector, civil society organizations, media as well as community leaders also attended the conference.

During his visit to Kastamonu, the Secretary-General called on the Deputy Governor of Kastamonu, Mr. Vedat YILMAZ and the Mayor of Kastamonu, Mr. Tahsin BABAŞ. During these meetings, they expressed their support for the D-8 and their willingness to host the D-8 Health care Research Center in Kastamonu. It was agreed that the feasibility of hosting the Research Center will soon be conducted and shared with the D-8 Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign affairs of Turkey as well.

The Secretary-General also met with the Vice Chancellor of the Kastamonu University, Prof. Dr. Ali Rafet ÖZKAN. The Vice Chancellor expressed his keen interest to contribute to the activities of D-8, specially the Secretary-General’s initiative of establishing the D-8 Network of Pioneers for Research and Innovation. As part of his contribution, he expressed his willingness to provide a facility that will serve as the D-8 Research and Innovation Center in the Kastamonu University campus. The feasibility study of the Center will be communicated with the Secretariat in due course.

The event was given wide coverage in the local media and there was also live broadcast of the interview conducted with the D-8 Secretary-General by TGRT news.