APEC Leads Discussion on Agribiotech and Science Communication

Participants from 17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies and 3 non-APEC countries have converged at the Acacia Hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines for the APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB) Workshop. The workshop which runs from June 8-12, 2015 has experts and participants discussing the theme Fostering the benefits of innovation in plant breeding and science communication.

Among the co-organizers are APEC, ISAAA, US Department of Agriculture, and USAID.

Dr. Segfredo Serrano, Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Agriculture and Chair of the 2015 APEC HLPDAB, welcomed the participants as the main host of the event. He stressed the importance of exploring new ideas and sharing of experiences among countries so that they benefit from these and in imploring other economies that have not yet adopted modern technologies for agricultural development.

Keynote speakers led by Dr. Matthew Morell, Deputy Director General of the International Rice Research Institute, and Dr. Andrew Roberts, Director of the Center for Environmental Risk Assessment of the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation, agreed that the challenges in agriculture cannot be addressed without innovation, particularly the use of modern technology.

New breeding techniques being used by public and private sectors in improving agricultural production were presented, such as accelerated breeding, precision gene editing, and related technologies. Policies with regards technology regulation and their use were deemed important.

For more information, email knowledgecenter@isaaa.org.