Benefits of new tools in biotechnology to developing countries in south Asia: A perspective from UNESCO

South Asia, once considered as a laggard, has grown at about 6% on average over the past two decades and the current growth outlook is much brighter. However, this growth is not always well distributed and the challenges of institutionalising policies and mechanisms to ensure inclusive growth are now being seriously considered by these countries governments.The targets set by south Asian countries are primarily based on the investments in infrastructural sector with an objective to generate educated and skilled human resources. The other most important inclusive growth area is the core public services; Agriculture, Health, and Energy, which are increasingly becoming technology driven. Biotechnology has been increasingly seen now to be an area of technology that holds the greatest new potential to address problems arising from low productivity, overburdened health systems, high-cost unsustainable energy supplies and the need for developing new materials for industrial and environmental applications.This article attempts to highlight perspectives on some of the emerging areas of biotechnology that have good potential for economic development in the context of south Asia, as well as discuss briefly some of UNESCO's initiatives in biotechnology for that region.

► Perspectives on biotechnology based on World Science Report 2010. ► Examples of UNESCO cooperation with south Asia on biotechnology. ► Regional Centre for Biotechnology Education, Training and Research in India.