Source: Hindustan Times via CropBiotech Update

The recent BioAsia 2005 summit in Hyderabad, India concluded with ten Asian countries coming together to form one community tasked to promote biotechnology in the region. The Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) includes India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Israel, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Its headquarters will be located in Hyderabad, and M.K. Bhan, secretary of India's department of biotechnology, and B.P. Acharya, a former secretary of biotechnology in the Andhra Pradesh state government, will serve as its patrons. Founding president Answar Nasim, head of Pakistan's National Commission on Biotechnology, hopes that FABA will encourage greater investment in the biotechnology sector.

BioAsia likewise allowed government leaders to express their support for expanding research and development. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekara Reddy, for instance, announced that the government of India would provide another 1,000 acres of land for bio-entrepreneurship in the state. This land would encourage growth of the Biotech Cluster in India's Genome Valley, where a Biotech Park is currently being built.

The summit also saw the signing of 25 memoranda of understanding (MoU) and 42 Business to Business (B2B) meetings in its three-day duration. Over 300 delegates, 40 sponsors and exhibitors, 50 B2B delegates from 31 countries, and 300 students from various universities attended, coming from countries such Canada, Germany, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, and USA.

See the article at http://www.hindustantimes.com/. Visit the BioAsia conference website at http://www.bioasia2005.org.