BIO 2000 Attracts Record International Contingent
More than one-third of the participants in this year's International Biotechnology Meeting & Exhibition, which will be held at Boston's Hynes Convention Center, are from 35 nations outside the United States. Company executives and government and biotech association officials hail from six continents. Among the largest delegations are those from Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
On Sunday, March 26, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., BIO 2000 will feature a Global Roundtable with industry, government and national association leaders from around the world discussing international biotechnology issues.
BIO's annual meeting is the world's largest biotechnologyexhibition. More than 7,000 company executives, scientists, investment experts and government officials are expected to attend. More than 700 speakers will participate in 200 symposia and sessions on the latest developments in science, business and public policy.
The Global Roundtable will begin with a plenary session from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Speakers include U.S. Rep. Joseph Moakley (D-Mass. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Institute for International Development at Harvard University's Center for International Development; and Franklin M. Loew, president of Becker College, in Worcester, Mass.
From 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. six breakout sessions, occurring concurrently, will examine the future of genetically modified foods; financing biotechnology companies in Australia, Brazil and Israel; economic development in Europe and Southeast Asia; global opportunities in biomanufacturing; international cooperation for biodiversity and bioprospecting; and support for biotech research in developing countries.
A full program of BIO 2000 symposia, presentations and events is available on BIO's web site at www.bio.org in the BIO 2000 News Room. Look here for up-to-the-minute information about the conference, including program highlights, registration instructions and onsite pressroom hours.
In addition to the Global Roundtable, many other sessions Monday, March 27, to Thursday, March 30, will explore international issues.
For example, presentations will be held on development of biotechnology, in general, in Europe (Tuesday, March 28, from 10:30 a.m. to noon) and, in particular, in Switzerland (Monday, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Germany (Tuesday 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.), France (Wednesday, March 29, 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.) and the United Kingdom (Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. to noon).
Governments and companies from around the world also will have exhibits of their biotechnology research and development efforts in the exhibit hall, which opens Monday at 6:30 p.m. and closes Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
In addition to participants from Europe, Australia and Canada, company executives, scientists and government officials attending BIO 2000 include those from Iceland, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico and Cuba.