On the 6th of January 2023, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Kingdom of Belgium Agro Incubator at VIB (Belgium) and Agro-Innovation Incubator of International Agriculture University (Uzbekistan) organized its first online meeting to establish cooperation between the two institutions. 

Mrs. Aminova, the Acting Rector of International Agriculture University (IAU) welcomed participants and briefly introduced everyone to the new university’s mission, its strategic priorities and its flagship projects. She also emphasized the synergies that exist between the missions of the two agro-incubators. 

Dr. Stijn Dhondt, the Head of Agro-Incubator at VIB, made a brief presentation. He highlighted that VIB Agro Incubator was established with the mission to catalyze the existing Agbiotech ecosystem and support early-stage start-ups to accelerate innovative technologies for sustainable agriculture and food production. He explained how access to the state-of-art facilities in the plant phenotyping, robotic precision technology and experts as well as personal support in development and mentoring helps the early stage startups to succeed.

The meeting concluded with some possible areas of joint academic collaboration, possible academic exchanges and European or other research projects. Both parties agreed that internationalization is in the agenda of their institutions. It was also agreed that Flanders Bio – grouping biotech industry, and Flanders investment and trade will be contacted to further strengthen this collaboration.  

Mr. Ravshan Mamatov, Minister-Counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Kingdom of Belgium exhibited high level of support for the continuation of this cooperation.