On June 15 the Mission of the Argentine Republic to the European Union participated in the "First multilateral preparatory meeting of the International Forum on Bioeconomy" (IBF).

The meeting was chaired by John Bell, Director of Bieconomy, DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, and his team, Szilvia Nemeth, Elizabetha Balzi and Gilles Laroche. Delegates from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, China and Brazil attended the meeting, as well as representatives of the OECD, various Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI) and EU Member States National Programmes (ERA-NET). It is worth mentioning that Argentina, through its Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (MINCYT), is a founding member of the IBF initiative.

The proposal is to create a flexible multilateral platform that allows global partners in Research and Development (R&D) to exchange views and experiences while acting in areas of common interest in bio-economy. The IBF also aims to contribute moving towards a common international vision of certain aspects of the bio-economy and to promote actions aimed at achieving sustainable development.

Its launching is expected to take place on October 13 on the occasion of World Food Day, and its First Plenary Meeting in Brussels by January 2017.

More information available at: www.bioeconomia.mincyt.gob.ar/