BioMalaysia

It’s that time of the year again and BioMalaysia rolls around for the Malaysian biotech industry to showcase the progress being made in the country.

This year’s edition comes with a twist as the conference is bundled together with the BIO Pacific Rim Summity on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy 2011, a prestigious international event by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

This is the first time the Pac Rim Summit is being held outside of North America.

The conference kicked off with a bang as our Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak highlighted the potential of the Bioeconomy (newly coined buzzword) in Malaysia.

The other key announcement, which quite seems to be quite starkly carried over from the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Toronto this year, is the National Biomass Strategy, which seems to be the answer to the world’s cry for sustainable biomass to be produced and supplied to the world to produce renewable energy.

As Malaysia hopes to leverage on the miles and miles of palm oil plantations, there’s a belief that this could be the next big thing for wealth creation in Malaysia.

Other interesting items on the agenda were the sessions on the use of microalgae for generating biofuels, as well as discussions on food security.

Malaysia has also been busy enhancing services for conventional agriculture through the establishment of the Centre for Marker Development and Validation.

This centre utilizes proprietary technology to assist conventional breeders in identifying and selecting hybrids for commercial purposes. The centre is based in the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institution.