The conference was held on November 9 and 10 at the Diamond Hotel, Manila (Philippines and was organized by the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP) and chaired by its president Dr. Benigno Peczon and UPLB professor Dr. Reynaldo dela Cruz. The conference theme was: "Biotechnology Opportunities for Developing Countries is intended to be a venue where major stakeholders, including the government, the academe, farmers, business, church, media as well as the international community can discuss emerging issues on biotechnology and formulated strategies that would enable developing countries to use biotechnology as an engine for growth and economic development. The conference aim to achieve specific goals such as present updates on the current status and progress of modern biotechnology, share lessons and experiences in the fields of biotech policy and regulatory development, agricultural biotechnology, biomedical and environmental biotechnology, intellectual property rights, bioethics and commercialization of biotechnologies.
