International workshop on biotechnology set Feb 17-18 at Los Baños

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines  – An international workshop on biotechnology will be held here on Feb. 17-18.

Billed “Seminar-Workshop on Strategic Communication on Agricultural Biotechnology Using Risk Communication Methodology,” the two-day scientific meeting will be hosted by the Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA).

Philippine government-hosted SEARCA, headed by Director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., is one of the 20 “enters of excellence” of SEAMEO, an intergovernment treaty body founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science and culture.

Organized by SEARCA and the Singapore-based Asia BioBusiness Ptc. Ltd., the seminar-workshop is in response to a recommendation of the 2010 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology earlier held in Japan.

The Los Baños meeting will address needs and concerns of many stakeholders involved in biotechnology through science-based communication that customizes messages for each stakeholder group.

“Biotechnology has the potential to contribute to food security on a global scale and reduce the environment impact of agricultural production,” decisions that products or biotechnology are safe, effective, and ethnical.”

Resource persons are Dr. Andrew Powell, Asia BioBusiness chief executive officer; Dr. Paul Teng, Nanyang Technological University-National Institute of Education dean; and Dr. Mariechel Navarro, manager, Global Knowledge Center for Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA).