The International Conference on Agricultural Science and Technology (ICAST), initiated and sponsored by Chinese government and cosponsored by World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, FAO and other international organizations, will be held in Beijing on November 7-9 in Beijing. The conference is an unprecedented international gathering, which covers almost all disciplines of agricultural science and technology. It also includes Governmental Forum and Agricultural Business Forum.

About 1000 officers and scientists in charge of agricultural science and technology in government departments, academic institutions and international organizations, outstanding agriculture experts, manufacturers, and other relevant people from about 40 countries and regions will be present. Dr. Mamdouh Riad, the Undersecretary for Afforestation & Environment of Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, will represent Egypt and give speech on behalf of the Ministry in the Government Forum. Dr. Magdy Madkour, director of Agriculture Genetic Engineering Research Institute of Agriculture Research Center, and Dr. Saad El Demerdash El Kadi, chief of Water Resources & Desert Soils Division of Desert Research Center, will attend the conference and give speech.

Agriculture has no national boundary, agricultural science and technology have no national boundary. At the dawn of a new millennium, agriculture is at crossroads. There is an incontrovertible evidence that an efficient agriculture has multiple and beneficial effects on the world economy - higher yields, increased availability of food at affordable prices, rising incomes, improved health, and reduced environmental degradation - especially in countries with large rural populations. China's example is inspiring: it currently feeds 22% of the world's population using only 9% of the world's arable land. But world wide population growth, threatened biodiversity, less land and even less water, threats to the environment, chronic urban bias, and policies that overtly discriminate against agriculture, are combining to make the need for an agricultural transformation ever more urgent. Development of innovative science & technology is essential. For example, a biotechnological revolution is underway, but issues such as intellectual property rights, and environmental, ethical and social concerns are impeding the application of these new scientific tools for solving agriculture problems. Similarly, environmental protection, natural resource conservation and other issues are of equal importance. The conference offers a unique opportunity to focus global attention on these issues and to call for solutions and action.

This conference will provide an opportunity to sum up the achievements and lessons learned in the 20th century, to exchange policies and experience in the development of agricultural science and technology in different countries and to envision our joint mission of the development in the new century, through innovation and cooperation on agricultural science and technology around the world.