The meeting focused on the progress of the Comprehensive Programme for the Development of Biotechnology until 2020, as well as on interdepartmental coordination in biotechnology programmes and interaction with technology platforms.

In addition to discussing current issues, the working group's agenda for the meeting, said Arkady Dvorkovich, includes forming a development strategy for the biotechnology industry. He said that the group would be very busy, with meetings taking place several times a month. Each meeting will focus on a specific industry-related aspect of biotechnology – bioenergy, biofuel, industrial biotechnologies, agriculture and so on.

The participants noted that biotechnology is an innovative field which actually lies at the juncture of conventional industries. As a result, it is often tricky to determine which federal executive agency should be responsible for which biotechnology project. Also, they stressed the importance of supporting the joint implementation of existing programmes with technology platforms, development institutions and businesses.

The group's next meeting on bioenergy is scheduled for January 2013.