Elmina, Dec 14, GNA - The Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) has decided to focus the attention of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) on the development and utilisation of biotechnology.

It has also decided to assist the two main science and technology institutions to build their capacities to be able to meet the needs of their various publics as well as the developmental needs of the country.

Mr. E. P. D. Barnes, Chief Director of the Ministry, said this in an address read for him by Dr. Joe Gogo, Director of the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of CSIR to close the four-day Biotechnology Development Programme, National Stakeholders Conference at Elmina on Monday.

The conference, which marked the end of the first phase of the Biotechnology Develop Programme, provided inputs for policy formulation for the development, utilisation, and management of biotechnology in the country.

Scientists, policy makers, technology end users, industrialists, donor representatives, the media, and health care providers attended the conference. It also addressed priority setting for biotechnology application in agriculture and health, identifiable technologies and techniques and provided a framework for addressing issues relating to biotechnology such as regulation, capacity building and private sector development.

Mr Barnes, who also participated in the conference, believed that biotechnology has applications in critical development areas such as food production and processing, health, manufacturing industry and in environmental management.

"The country has some level of capacity to promote the use of our various biotechnological techniques and systems to enhance product development, productivity and the delivery of services. "Our pressing need appears to be formulation of strategies that will help focus our efforts in addressing national needs."

Mr Barnes recognised the role researchers in the universities and other public and private institutions have to play in this national effort and stressed the need for researchers to establish the linkage with industry and other possible users and beneficiaries of biotechnology.

He also urged representatives of all stakeholders at the conference to sensitise their organisations and thereby raise the profile of biotechnology "so that it could be considered as one of the priority areas for the allocation of funds". "In the public sector, in particular, our hope is that through our collective efforts, ministries such as Food and Agriculture, Health and Education will join hands with MEST by committing some resources to this effort for the national good.

"We should look at biotechnology as an essential tool for the country's development; in fact as a national crusade and not just a programme being promoted by MEST," he stated.

He stressed the need for closer collaboration between researchers and the private sector to ensure that the needs of stakeholders on the demand side are addressed, adding that the products from the research institutions must be packaged in such a way as to facilitate their use by the private sector.

Researchers should develop strong linkages with their prospective clients, he said, adding that in this regard, the Ministry intends to organise early next year a forum for researchers and the private sector to see how research-industry linkages can be further developed and strengthened for mutual benefit.

Mr Barnes called for stronger linkages between individuals and institutions engaged in biotechnology activities, a re-orientation of the research activities of science and technology institutions to address priority issues that were raised. Inventory should be taken of current biotechnology activities being undertaken by the science and technology institutions as well as the capacities existing in them.

This is to help to reduce duplication of efforts and ensure that resources are efficiently used for the good of the country. The Chief Director called for "a clearer understanding of the policy initiatives that have to be put in place to ensure that biotechnology is effectively used in pursuit of our national development goals".

Professor A. A. Oteng-Yeboah, Deputy Director General of the CSIR, who presided over the closing ceremony, called on the stakeholders to continue to lobby and play an advocacy role in biotechnology development.

He called for commitment from stakeholders and government, which he said, must commit itself to the processes of biotechnology. Prof. Oteng-Yeboah noted the difficulty in procuring funding for projects and, therefore, urged scientists to articulate their projects and programmes to attract adequate funds for research. GNA