The Directorate for National Reference Laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management participated in the international conference Biotech Future Forum, Three Perspectives, Economy, State, Science. The conference took place on the 20th of October 2022 at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade. The conference was hosted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the World Economic Forum with the support of the United Nations Development Programme.

The conference brought together leaders from the public and private sectors as well as the academic community with the aim of collaboration and exchanging knowledge and experiences shared in the three areas: biotechnology, bioinformatics and bioengineering in the context of three perspectives economy, the state and science.

The Directorate for National Reference Laboratories had a table at the "Minglarium" led by Director Goran Zebić together with biochemist Stevo Jovandić and molecular biologist Anja Vuksan. The Directorate for National Reference Laboratories shared experiences with many international and national participants in the field of biotechnology and technological development. The opportunities and activities in the field of biodiversity, biotechnology, and bioengineering were presented. Among many interlocutors, we were particularly pleased to host one of the speakers of the International Conference Biotech Future Forum, Ms Jelena Begović PhD, Director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering at the University of Belgrade (IMGGI) and Ms Valentina Đorđević Phd, Full Research Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at IMGGI. We considered the future joint activities and deepening of cooperation in the field of biodiversity and biotechnology.

Following the opening ceremony, numerous experts at this international conference presented the construction project of the ʺBIO4“ Campus, a new bioeconomic centre in Europe right here in Belgrade.

The „BIO4“ campus will occupy an area of almost 20 hectares and will focus on 4 key themes: Biomedicine - medicine based on the application of the principles of natural science in clinical practise; Biotechnology - the use of living organisms and their derivatives to develop or produce useful products and processes; Bioinformatics - the application of computational tools and analysis in the collecting and interpreting of biological data; Biodiversity - the study of the variety of life on Earth at all levels, from genes to organisms to ecosystems.

Nine scientific institutes and five faculties of the University of Belgrade will be involved in the work of the ‘’BIO4’’ campus. This science and technology park in Belgrade will provide comprehensive support to ‘’BIO4’’ start-ups. There will be many research and development centres for pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, life sciences, and business in the sciency and technology park. It will be а venue for congresses and multimedia, a museum centre for promoting collaboration, and place accredited as animal facility.

Simply, it will a home for the range of multidisciplinary housings and a perfect place for creating an ideal ecosystem for innovation...

“BIO4“will be the campus, but is already the platform for networking and promoting cooperation.

Serbia creates opportunities, we are part of the solution.

You can see more information about conferences and program at biotechff.gov.rs

Also, you can watch the impressive videos "Launch of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Serbia" and the summary video of the conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtHriexVwlM&t=109s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKJcVBpMDsw