APEC Life Sciences Experts Meeting in Thailand

Life sciences experts from the Asia-Pacific Region are meeting in Thailand today and tomorrow for what is seen as the first step in developing the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF) Strategic Plan.

Chaired by H.E. Suwit Khunkitti, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, one of the main objectives of the LSIF Experts Group Meeting is to develop a Life Sciences Matrix of Best Practices.

This matrix will form the basis of a National LSIF Capacity Assessment (NCA) for APEC Member Economies to take stock of their development needs in the Life Sciences sector in their economies.

The best practice matrix will contain a list of operating principles covering specific areas of the Life Sciences sector identified at the first LSIF meeting in Phuket, Thailand, in 2003. The four areas are:

To take advantage of the potential gains of the Life Sciences sector APEC Leaders have requested that the LSIF Strategic Plan be ready for the Leaders' Meeting in Santiago, Chile, this November.

The next stage in the development of the LSIF Strategic Plan will be the presentation of the Matrix of Best Practices and an NCA questionnaire to the first meeting of APEC Senior Officials in Santiago on February 26.

A pilot program will then be initiated in which up to 5 APEC Member Economies will conduct National LSIF Capacity Assessments. The results of these assessments will be reviewed and the process further refined before the strategy is presented to APEC Leaders.

The LSIF Experts Group Meeting is being held at the Khon Kaen Sofietel Hotel.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Member Economies: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States of America and Viet Nam.