Last week, Belgrade hosted the second international conference, Biotech Future Forum, which brought together over 500 participants from the three sectors of society with the most significant impact on biotechnology’s development: government and business leaders and leading scientists from around the world. The event was organized by the Government of the Republic of Serbia in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and UNDP, powered by BIO4 Campus.

The diverse conference program included a government panel, four expert focus sessions, two keynote talks, and a Green district with numerous panels and an exhibition of domestic startups. The conference was officially opened by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, joined on stage by World Economic Forum Executive Director Mirek Dusek and OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann. A special contribution to the opening ceremony was made through a video message from Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP.

The conference brought together a multitude of prominent leaders, including Jelena Begović, Minister of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation in Serbia; H.E. Mohamed Bin Taliah, Chief of Government Services of the United Arab Emirates Government; and Dr. Ami Appelbaum, Chief Innovation Scientist at the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology and Chairman of the Board of the Israel Innovation Authority.

Moreover, two keynote speakers added special significance to this year’s conference. Prof. Tim Lu, a distinguished Professor at MIT, Co-Founder & CEO of Senti Biosciences and an entrepreneur who has founded numerous companies and is at the forefront of synthetic biology innovation. Also, Dr. Reshma Shetty, Co-founder of synthetic biology’s first unicorn, Ginkgo Bioworks.

The Forum also brought together numerous Serbian scientists and entrepreneurs who are leaders in their respective fields worldwide, such as Prof. Milica Radišić, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Functional Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering at the University of Toronto in Canada; Dr. Vladimir Cmiljanović, Founder and CEO of Swiss Rockets in Switzerland; Prof. Miroslava Cuperlovic-Culf, Senior Research Officer at the National Research Council Canada; and Prof. Zoran Obradović, Distinguished Professor and Center Director at Temple University, and many more!

Stay tuned for further details of the #BioTechBEG23.