Georgetown : President Donald Ramotar visited the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) at the invitation of the Director, Dr. Suresh Narine, where he was given a guided tour of the facility located at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen.
The President was accompanied by Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali and General Secretary of the Rice Producers’ Association, Dharamkumar Seeraj.
The IAST, which was initially established in 1977 is an industrial research organisation, which has as its mandate the development and/or adaptation of appropriate technology for the utilisation of Guyana's natural resources, so that these resources can be gainfully developed and exploited for the benefit of the people of Guyana.
Today, the institution has evolved significantly in terms of scope, equipment, level of research, and innovation and is now looking at large-scale commercialisation.
Dr. Narine said that, “the last Head of State to visit IAST was President Forbes Burnham so we are delighted to host this Head of State at the institute, and I think it underscores the importance that our evolving economy places on the use of science and technology for development.”
President Ramotar was very impressed with the work that the Institute has been doing; he said that it’s commendable and relevant given the fact that today’s modern economy relies heavily on the use of science and technology to remain competitive and viable.
However, the IAST is confronted with challenges in terms of attracting more private sector involvement and the President suggested the establishment of a marketing department and other ways to open up the work of the institute to the public.
He noted that by doing more commercial-type activities, the nation would be getting the full value of what the IAST has been envisaged to achieve.
Meanwhile, Dr. Narine said that the President’s visit is going to be a very large motivating factor for his staff and expressed enthusiasm at the fact that he was fully engaged in every aspect of the Institute’s work that he was shown.
The IAST is currently executing a wide array of projects, ranging from food (cereals and noodles), oils and building materials to name a few.
“What we are hoping to get out of this visit is a sense of urgency renewed in the President’s mind of the importance of science and technology. We have, for some time, been struggling on how to create effective models at commercialising and so one of the discussions that have now been catapulted up to the fore with the president to whom I report, is how can we can better employ marketing techniques, as well as publicising what we do in order to begin to move some of the nearer term technologies into the market place,” Dr. Narine said.
The Institute of Applied Science and Technology is working along with the Guyana Rice Development Board on a project called the " The Utilisation of Rice- Derived Biomass."
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