ISAAA Network Meets in Hanoi

Members of the ISAAA network from 15 countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa gathered together for an annual meeting at Hilton Garden Inn in Hanoi, Vietnam on March 18-19, 2014. Thirty-eight members of the network attended the meeting to evaluate and discuss discuss their knowledge sharing initiatives on biotechnology.

In his welcome message to the group, AgBiotech Vietnam Director Mr. Le Van Tien acknowledged ISAAA as the leading organization sharing knowledge on biotechnology, while Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Genetics Director General Dr. Le Huy Ham said that it is a great experience that representatives of Biotechnology Information Centers (BICs) from different parts of the globe convene to strategize on how facts on biotechnology will move forward to the stakeholders. He added that efforts of the BICs will all lead to a greater impact for the future, especially for Vietnam where food security is at risk due to shortage of land, increasing population, and climate change. 

ISAAA Chair Dr. Paul S. Teng facilitated a discussion to synergize the efforts of ISAAA and the BICs to achieve individual and institutional targets. Highlights of research on farmer adoption in Asia, science communication among scientists and academics in Asia, and biotech approvals were also shared with the team. Popular techniques in disseminating information were also discussed during the hands-on workshops on videography and infographics. 

For more information about ISAAA, the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology and Biotech Information Centers, visit the website at: http://www.isaaa.org/, or follow ISAAA on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/isaaa.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/isaaa_org).

Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops 2013 Seminars in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Philippines

A month after the international launch of ISAAA's 2013 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in Beijing, 10 countries in Asia have held their respective launches and media seminars. ISAAA's monitoring of the tri-media shows that one month after the international launch, Brief 46 has been mentioned in 1,933 news articles and 1,777 social media posts in 77 countries with a total impression data of 2,147,275,067.

Our previous blog posts discussed the country launches in China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar. The following are summaries of the events in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.


BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh, the seminar/launch for ISAAA Brief 46 was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 26. The event was highlighted by the keynote speech of Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury. Minister Chowdhury said that "Being an overpopulated country, we will not hesitate in using biotechnology if it is proven to be useful and safe for human, animal and for the environment." She urged scientists to develop new crop varieties through frontier research using biotechnology to combat the environmental hazards like salinity, drought, submergence, and cold.

Bangladesh Biotechnology Information Centre (BdBIC) and ISAAA, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) organized the seminar which was attended by around 350 policy planners, academicians, researchers, extension officers, research students, and journalists.

Dr. James (third from left) is joined by Minister Chowdhury during the launch of Brief 46 in Dhaka.

INDONESIA

The Jakarta, Indonesia seminar was held on February 28, and was attended by 128 people. Dr. Mahaletchumy Arujanan of Malaysia BIC joined Dr. Clive James and Dr. Randy Hautea by giving a presentation "Communicating Agri-biotech: Scientific Accuracy vs Popularized Myths." Two interviews for release on television were conducted featuring Dr. Clive James.

Drs. James and Hautea was joined by Dr. Arujanan during the launch in Jakarta.

PHILIPPINES

A media conference was held on March 6, 2014 at Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City, with more than 60 people in attendance, composed of multi-media journalists, members of the academe, government agencies, private sector, non-government organizations, and local government units. At the conference, ISAAA Chair Dr. Paul Teng talked about food security and how biotech crops help contribute in various aspects of food security, such as improvement of nutrition and agricultural productivity. ISAAA Global Coordinator and SEAsiaCenter Director Dr. Randy Hautea presented the global status, trends, and significant benefits of biotech crop adoption.

Resource persons of the media conference in Makati are (Left to right): DA Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano, ISAAA Global Coordinator and SEAsia Center Director Dr. Hautea, ISAAA Chair Dr. Teng, SEARCA Director Dr. Gil Saguiguit, and Former University of the Philippines President and UPLB Chancellor Dr. Emil Q. Javier.

More information about ISAAA's Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2013 are available at ISAAA's website at http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/46/default.asp. Various information resources, including the Executive Summary, Top Ten Facts about Biotech/GM Crops in 2013, Powerpoint Slides, Infographics, and videos are all available for download from the same link.

For more information about ISAAA, visit http://www.isaaa.org/, or follow ISAAA on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/isaaa.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/isaaa_org).

Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops 2013 Seminars in Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar

ISAAA’s 2013 Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops, also called ISAAA Brief 46, has been launched in 7 countries in Asia since its international release in Beijing, China on February 13, 2014. Close monitoring of the tri-media shows that two weeks after its launch, Brief 46 has been mentioned in 1,312 news articles and 1,057 social media posts in 66 countries with a total impression data of 1,148,573,861.

The previous blog post discussed the country launches in China, South Korea, and Japan. Following are summaries of the events in Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar.

VIETNAM

In Vietnam, around 126 representatives of media (radio, print, and online), universities, government agencies, and private institutions and companies attended the seminar at Hanoi’s Sofitel Plaza, where Brief 46 was launched on February 20, 2014. The author, Dr. Clive James, presented the highlights of the report including the benefits and future prospects of biotech crops. Other speakers include ISAAA Global Coordinator Dr. Randy A. Hautea, who discussed the impact of biotech corn in the Philippines; ISAAA Chair Dr. Paul Teng talked about food security; and Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre Executive Director Dr. Mahalectumy Arajanan made a presentation on how to communicate biotechnology.

Dr. Clive James at the media conference in Hanoi on February 20.

THAILAND

Around 100 representatives from radio and print media attended the press conference and seminar held at the Rama Gardens Hotel in Bangkok on February 21, 2014. Dr. Clive James, author of Brief 46 was asked about GM food safety and biotechnology for biofuel production.

Dr. James at the seminar in Bangkok with Dr. Sutat Sriwitanapongse (left) and Dr. Supat Attathom (right) from Thailand Biotechnology and Biosafety Information Center.

MYANMAR

On February 24, 2014, Brief 46 was launched during an agriculture seminar in Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital city of Myanmar. Myanmar's Union Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, H.E. U Myint Hlaing was present at the seminar and stressed the importance of adopting the appropriate modern technologies including biotechnology in crop production. The event was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) in collaboration with the National Social and Economic Advisory Council (NSEAC) and ISAAA.

Dr. James presents a replica coin of Dr. Norman Borlaug Congressional Gold Medal to Union Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation H.E. U Myint Hlaing in the presence of Dr. Tin Htut Oo, Chairman of National Economic and Social Advisory Commission and Dr. Tin Htut, Rector of Yezin Agricultural University.

The Minister said “Given the limitation in current activities in plant biotechnology, we have to extend the research activities of plant biotechnology in the near future of which strengthening of technical capacity and human resource development is crucial."

A media conference was also held in Yangon, Myanmar on February 23, which was attended by around 40 tri media practitioners and the private sector.

Updates on the events in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jakarta, Indonesia will be posted here next week.

More information about ISAAA's Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2013 are available at ISAAA's website at http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/46/default.asp. Various information resources, including the Executive Summary, Top Ten Facts about Biotech/GM Crops in 2013,Powerpoint Slides, Infographics, and videos are all available for download from the same link.

For more information about ISAAA, visit http://www.isaaa.org/, or follow ISAAA on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/isaaa.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/isaaa_org).