Kathmandu, March 30:

Researchers today stressed the need to allocate enough budget for research and development of biotechnology to check brain drain.

Speaking at a national seminar on Biotechnology Information Network for Asia (BINASIA) Nepal held here today, Dr Mukunda Ranjit, an academician at the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST), said lack of institutional infrastructure for human resource development, lack of special separate funding for biotechnology research and indifference shown by the industries in collaborating with the research institutions are the major factors hindering the research and development of biotechnology.

“Modern biotechnology in Nepal is in a state of infancy,” said Dr Ranjit.

“It is high time the government realised the importance of this field at a time when brain drain is ever increasing, thanks to the lack of adequate infrastructure and lack of adequate funding.”

The seminar was jointly organised by the Research Centre for Applied Science and Technology (RECAST), the United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (UNAPCTT) and the Korean Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB).

Professor Mohan Bikram Gewali, executive director at Research Centre for Applied Science and Technology, said, “It is indeed a great opportunity to be a member of the BINASIA. We can learn a lot about the latest technology.”

Se-Jun Yoon, director of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), said, “The exchange of ideas and information will benefit all the countries.”

“The BINASIA was established with the motive of sharing information on biotechnology information and benefiting from it,” said N Srinivasan, Biotechnology Information Network for Asia coordinator, APCTT.