KARACHI, Oct 18: The International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Karachi University, and Institute of Xinjiang Traditional Uygur Medicine (IXJUM), Xinjiang, China, have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to carry out research on traditional medicine for discovery of new herbal remedies.

A Karachi University official said here on Friday that one of the basic aims of this agreement was to establish academic and scientific cooperation between the two institutions.

He said that director of ICCBS Prof Dr Mohammad Iqbal Choudhary on behalf of the international centre and the director of IXJUM signed the agreement in a special ceremony held in Xinjiang, a province of China.

On the occasion, ICCBS international research coordinator Prof Dr Ahsana Dar Farooq and provincial ministers of Xinjiang province and other officials of the IXJUM were also present.

Dr Choudhary said that the ICCBS was a premier establishment of higher learning and research in the subcontinent and in the developing world where scientists were engaged day and night in research work on various sciences, including herbal medical science.

The agreement would further strengthen cooperation in spheres of scientific research, education and training between the ICCBS-KU and the IXJUM, he said.

The director of the IXJUM said that Institute of Xinjiang was the sole institution specially targeting research and development (R&D) of traditional Uygur medicine in China. —APP