RI must push biotechnology
RI must push biotechnology
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will need to catch up in the field of
biotechnology if it wants to develop as an industrial nation, a
senior official of the Agency for Assessment and Application of
Technology (BPPT) warns.
Irawadi Jamaran, the agency's Deputy Chairman for Basic and
Applied Sciences, said last weekend that mastery in biotechnology
is a must if the country is to improve its industrial and
agricultural products.
The technology, he said, will add to the value of products
and, giving them a competitive edge in a tightening world market.
In Southeast Asia, Thailand and Malaysia lead the
biotechnology field, especially in crop production.
Irawadi stressed that unless Indonesia adopted modern
techniques of biotechnology, such as creating tissue cultures for
growing plants of high quality, exploitation of the country's
natural bio-resources will be controlled by other countries.
"Currently, judging from the amount of biotechnology being
applied to Indonesian products, we must admit that in general we
have a lot to catching up to do with other countries," he said
during a press conference.
Cooperation with other countries, he said, is necessary to
guarantee that the exploration and management of bio-resources
and the development of biotechnology are carried out responsibly
and "to ensure that everyone gets the same share of the
benefits".
To obtain more input on what Indonesia could do to promote the
technology, BPPT will open a three-day international forum on
the conservation and sustainable use of tropical bio-resources
here tomorrow.
Jointly sponsored by BPPT, Japan's New Energy Development
Organization and the Japan Biotechnology Association will attend
as well as 150 other local and foreign participants.
Among the topics to be discussed in the forum are ecosystem
management in Indonesia, in situ/ex situ conservation of the
ecosystem and its species, application of genetic engineering and
biotechnology to bio-resource utilization, technology transfer
and intellectual property rights and public awareness of
conservation and the sustainable use of tropical bio-resources.
"The forum will gather and collect ideas about tropical bio-
resource management and explore, identify, analyze and discuss
their applications in the industry," Irawadi said.(pwn)