HIGHLIGHTS OF PASCO’S ONLINE-HELD ANNUAL MEETING THIS YEAR

On November 29, 2020, PASCO (Promotion Association for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Austria and China) held its annual meeting per Zoom platform, abiding by the corresponding policies by the Austrian government due to the Covid-19 situation. Around 60 participants including the invited guests attended the online activity, enjoying the rich program highlighted by the expert lectures, this year unmistakeably on the topic of COVID-19.

PASCO is a talent hub based in Vienna, Graz and Leoben in Austria, striving for bridging scientific and technical projects of mutual interest between Europe and China. It is well connected with other associations for science and technology in Europe.

Ms ZHANG Xiaomei, hosting the meeting, invited Mr. LEI Fengyun, Counsellor for Science and Technology of the Chinese Embassy in Austria, to give a speech. Mr. LEI reviewed the past history of China-Austria cooperation in science and technologies, and summarized the current situation under the COVID situation. He made a detailed summary of the related work carried out by PASCO in the past year, giving his sincere blessings to the association and hoping for the best in its future work.

Mr. YUAN Xudong, the general representative stationed in Germany of the Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs of the Ministry of Science and Technology in China, was invited to the online venue as well. Mr. YUAN highly praised the work of PASCO and gave his best wishes from his Bureau in Cologne. He expressed his readiness to provide necessary help and support for the work of PASCO, too.

Before introducing the new PASCO President Mr. GUAN Qi for the oncoming three years, the leaving President Mr. JIANG Junwei thanked all those who have contributed to the work of PASCO in the past years. He briefly recalled the organized/co-organized events in the year of 2020, e.g.  the campaign against COVID-19, the International Talent Exchange Conference, and the 2020 Global Chinese Automobile Elite Joint Annual Meeting, etc.. The new PASCO President Mr. GUAN Qi made his speech by presenting some new thoughts on the structure of the Association. Besides serving as a platform of communication, exchange and professional performance, PASCO will be offering the so-called “Danube Knowledge Forum”, inviting diverse experts for the sake of sharing knowledge, information and wisdom.

Two medical lectures were held at the annual meeting.  Dr. WAGNER-HAN Ying from MA15 of the Health Department in Vienna talked about the types of COVID-19 test and the quarantine policies, how to cope with the prevention, testing and isolation, what help one could get. She pointed out some common misunderstandings related to the disease. Dr. GAO Xiaoou, a deputy chief physician of Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Spital in Vienna, is working on the front line of fighting the pandemic. Her lecture focused on the cases of clinical diagnosis and treatment. Using her rich professional knowledge, she explained the effectiveness of various drugs, treatment methods, the vaccines, and the different phases after the infection. Both lectures offered quite valuable and insightful information to the audience.