KARACHI, July 20: As many as 30 scientists from Asia, Africa and South America are to attend a three-day conference on natural product chemistry scheduled from July 25 to 27 at the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi. The objective of the intercontinental symposium is to promote collaborative multidisciplinary research in natural products in countries of the south. The chairman of the Higher Education Commission, Prof Atta-ur-Rahman, will inaugurate the conference.

Giving an account of the forthcoming symposium on Wednesday, acting Director of the HEJ institute, Dr Iqbal Choudhary, said the moot would bring together scientists from 11 countries, including Japan, Malaysia, Kenya, Sweden, Norway, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Mauritius.

They would be sharing their expertise and experiences with special reference to South-specific problems in health, agriculture and the sustainable use of biological resources.

He said the regional meeting of the organization of Afro-Asian and South American (AFASSA) regions scientists would also be held on the sidelines of the moot.

The AFASSA is also collaborating with the International Centre for Chemical Sciences, University of Karachi, for the natural chemistry symposium, which was the 3rd since it first began, and was being held, on rotational basis, for the first time in the Asian region.