Pakistan’s government has pledged to boost R&D spending from 0.59% to 2% of the country’s GDP by 2020 under its proposed Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, a ten-year plan. The Policy lists areas that require attention, including demand-driven research and relationships among science and technology institutions, and aims to establish an intellectual property rights system and an innovation fund. To better facilitate research by Pakistan’s 26 biotechnology and genetic engineering organizations, the Policy recommends reinstating the National Commission on Biotechnology, which the current government eliminated in 2008. The Policy, supported by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, will make its way through the Ministry of Law and the Cabinet before Parliament votes on it. Some critics doubt there will be enough money to execute the Policy, as the government slashed funds for the Ministry of Science and Technology by $5.8 million earlier this year.

Source: SciDev.net