The official Launching Ceremony of the International Research and Training Center for Science and Technology Strategy (CISTRAT), as a Category 2 Center under the Auspices of UNESCO, was held in Beijing, on the afternoon of September 24th, 2012. CISTRAT is the first research and training center, established by UNESCO, focusing on STI policy. H.E. Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology of China, attended the ceremony and gave a speech.

Minister Wan Gang said that the profound influence from the financial crisis still exists. We need STI to support economic development. Countries, especially developing countries, need cooperation among each other to promote S&T development. The experience of China’s S&T development proves that every country needs to figure out the best way for their own STI development. CISTRAT will provide a brand new platform for China and other countries to build the cooperation on STI strategies and policies.

Minister Wan mentioned that as the supporting institution for CISTRAT, Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development (CASTED) has an excellent research team and has built a network for international cooperation during the past 30 years of development. Minister Wan hoped that, based on the achievements and network of CASTED, with the support of MOST, CISTRAT could take full advantage of the international resource, and actively conduct the research on innovation strategy and policy cooperation. He also hoped that CISTRAT could bring its high performance on its training programs, and promote international S&T cooperation.

H.E. Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO, and H.E. Crispus Kiamba, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya, attended the workshop and delivered speeches. The workshop was hosted by Prof. Wang Yuan, Executive Vice President of CASTED and Director of CISTRAT. The first Governing Board members of CISTRAT, representatives from the UNESCO Beijing Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Water Resources also attended the ceremony. There were also guests from international and domestic Category 2 centers under the auspices of UNESCO. Participants of the International Training Program on Science, Technology and Innovation Polices of China 2012 also attended the ceremony, along with representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Provincial Bureaus of Science and Technology, and institutions in cooperation with CASTED.

On the morning of September 24th, CISTRAT held the first Governing Board Meeting, hosted by H.E. Cao Jianlin, Vice Minister of Science and Technology. The meeting examined and adopted the Constitution, Annual Plan for Activities, Development Plan (2012-2018), and the nomination of the Executive Board of CISTRAT. On September 25th, CISTRAT held the first international workshop and discussed about STI policies, global challenges, STI policy for development, regional innovation, network development, etc.