At its Annual General Assembly held in Brussels, EuropaBio, the European association of bioindustries, elected today Hans Kast (photo), President and CEO of BASF Plant Science, as its new Chairman. He succeeds Feike Sijbesma, Member of the Board of DSM, who has completed his mandate but will continue to serve on the EuropaBio Board.

In his acceptance speech, Kast said: “Biotechnology is a key, if not the key technology of the 21st century. Its application creates new business opportunities for a broad spectrum of industries ranging from food to chemicals and detergents to pharmaceuticals. It is a real opportunity to bring economic growth and jobs to Europe.”

EuropaBio is the only EU-level association representing the biotechnology industry across a wide number of industrial sectors and has been at the forefront of developing policies to grow a strong biotechnology sector in Europe.

“I will ensure that EuropaBio continues to play a leading position in representing the interests of Europe´s biotech industries. We need to make progress in three key areas: secure the development of emerging and maturing biotech companies, improved market access for all biotech products, and coherence of policies across the European Union. We need a clear legal framework in support of biotechnology for Europe.”

Hans Kast heads BASF Plant Science – BASF´s plant biotechnology company. BASF Plant Science coordinates an international research and technology platform with seven sites in four countries in Europe and North America and employs about 400 staff. In addition, BASF Plant Science has established numerous complementary cooperative ventures with research institutes, universities and biotechnology companies in Europe and North America.

The research activities of BASF Plant Science are concentrated in the areas of more efficient agriculture, healthier nutrition and the use of plants as “green factories”. These include for example plants with improved tolerance to drought. Another research focus is to develop plants with a higher level of vitamins or with omega-3 fatty acids that can prevent cardiovascular diseases.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. In 2004, BASF had approximately 82,000 employees and posted sales of more than €37 billion.


(1) About EuropaBio
EuropaBio has almost 50 corporate members operating worldwide, 7 associate member organizations, 2 regions and 25 national biotechnology associations representing some 1500 SMEs involved in research and development, and the testing, manufacturing and distribution of biotechnology products. More information can be found at www.europabio.org

(2) About Hans Kast
Hans Kast studied chemistry at the University of Stuttgart and obtained his doctorate degree in 1978. He started his BASF career 25 years ago in the Polymer Laboratory. Among other positions Hans Kast has been Vice President Marketing Dispersions, President Regional Division Japan and President Consumer Products & Life Science Division North America. Since 2000 he is President and CEO of BASF Plant Science headquartered at the BASF Agricultural Center Limburgerhof.