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From September 30 to October 4, the "International Training Workshop on Resource & Environment Scientific Data Sharing and Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge Service" was hosted by China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences (CPJRC) at the Department of Earth Sciences of Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. Personnel attending the opening ceremony included: Yao Jing, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Pakistan; V. Jensen, Director of UNESCO Office in Islamabad; Qasim Jan, President of Pakistan Academy of Sciences; Safdar Ali Shah, Director of CPEC Office, Higher Education Commission of Pakistan; M. Ali, President of Quaid-i-Azam University; Attaullah Shah, President of Karakoram International University; Razia Sultana, President of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar; Hong Tianhua, Executive Director of CPJRC. In addition, the members of the team of Wang Juanle from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the trainees, and more than 200 teachers and students from Quaid-i-Azam University and other universities in Islamabad attended the opening ceremony.

In his opening speech, M. Ali expressed sincere welcome and gratitude to all the guests, teachers and trainees present, and briefly introduced the construction progress of CPJRC. He said that China is Pakistan's closest friend, and the Board of Trustees of Quaid-i-Azam University had specially provided 50 acres (about 300 mu) of land for construction, which would start very soon, to support the development of CPJRC. He also expressed his gratitude to the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, CAS and Pakistan Academy of Sciences for their efforts in preparing for the establishment of CPJRC, and looked forward to working closely with China to make joint efforts to build CPJRC into an innovative and open center of excellence.

In Yao Jing's speech, he pointed out that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor would act as an important cooperation platform for deepening the friendship between China and Pakistan, not only for the cooperation on economy and engineering technology, but also on science and technology and society. He also said that the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and CAS had carried out fruitful works in the field of China-Pakistan scientific and technological cooperation. And since CPJRC is an important scientific and technological cooperation project in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, China would continue to provide support on it. And this international training workshop could act as another promising beginning to promote the success of CPJRC.

In V. Jensen's speech, she introduced the work of UNESCO in disaster prevention and alleviation in Pakistan, especially the establishment of the tsunami and flood early warning center. She hoped that CPJRC could play a significant role in improving Pakistan's capacity for disaster prevention and alleviation and provide scientific data and related software/hardware support to Pakistan. Safdar Ali Shah introduced the work carried out by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and CAS during preparation for the establishment of CPJRC, and expressed confidence in its development. On behalf of the host of the training workshop, Hong Tianhua briefly introduced the background, goals, structure, expected output and vision of CPJRC, which aroused positive responses from the participants.

As the first large-scale event organized by CPJRC since its construction, this training workshop was jointly organized by the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS and Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan, and technically supported by the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS - CPJRC's partner. Its purpose is to provide technical support for the establishment of a data sharing network serving the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, cultivate technical talents in fields of software, standards, services, and resource construction, prepare technology for the establishment of the data sharing network and services, accumulate disaster data and information related with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, establish a data sharing mechanism, improve the knowledge and service on disaster prevention and alleviation, and support the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Opening Ceremony

Site of the Training Workshop