Mostafa Ghanei, Secretary of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters in the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology, said at the award ceremony that biotechnology is one of the priorities for economic development and food security. It ranks eighth, while food biotechnology ranks first, indicating the high importance of biotechnology in food supply and economic prosperity.

He said that the backwardness in the field of agriculture and food should be eliminated with the help of introducing and promoting biotechnological capacities, adding: "We have weaknesses and backwardness in agriculture and this shortcoming has shown itself in allocating the first rank of Iran's imports to this field." At the beginning, it was thought that there was no solution to meet the country's import needs, but with the help of knowledge-based companies, this view changed and by calling for innovative projects, many companies showed their readiness and capability.

Ghanei emphasized that we should show the role of this field in the development of the country by changing the approach of oil economy and paying attention to technologies such as biotechnology, he continued: And it opens the door for those interested in the field, and these lesser-known capacities should be better introduced using the media.

The Secretary of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters of the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, noting that we should devote more weight to the priority and lesser-known areas of biotechnology, continued: The era of congresses and scientific events should be considered with an economic approach.

 Ghani emphasized: the field of biotechnology should be considered as an economy because the first priority of the country is economy and food security and biotechnology can play a new role in this field. 

Recognize the lesser-known capacities in the field of biotechnology

The first national and international conference on biotechnology and global development with the aim of introducing the latest research achievements in the field of science and biotechnology, was held in absentia on 10 May this year. The first round of the conference, which started this year, was held with the support of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters of the Vice President for Science and Technology, in cooperation with Asian universities and in cooperation with the Pasteur Institute of Iran.

 The conference was held for 7 days and was dedicated to a panel each day. 1372 people participated in the conference, of which 435 articles were submitted and 170 articles were accepted.

Leading figures were present in all areas as speakers and addressed the lesser-known and promoted areas of biotechnology, including the field of environmental biotechnology.

In this ceremony, Mehrdad Azin, Mojtaba Hamidifard, Mohammad Reza Aghasadeghi, Dariush Norouzian, Mohammad Mesgar Tehrani were honored as the winners of the conference in the presence of the Secretary of the Biotechnology Development Headquarters.

Communication and Information Center in the Vice Presidency of Science and Technology