Bali hosts Asia science meeting

DENPASAR, Bali: The Science Council of Asia kicked off on Wednesday its annual conference here, with biotechnology development, women and gender issues, science and technology policies among its topics of discussion.

The three-day conference in the resort area of Kuta will feature scholars from Asia, including Sangkot Marzuki, Hiroko Hara from Japan, Nordin Hassan from Malaysia and Ho Wang Lee from South Korea.

"The results of the meeting will be handed to each government of the member countries as input for their science and technology policies," said the council's President Suparta from Indonesia.

Established in 2002 with member countries including China, India, Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the council aims to strengthen and enhance program exchange on science and technology among member countries.

This year's meeting is being jointly organized by the office of State Minister of Research and Technology and the Indonesian Science Institute. -- JP