AFOB-MC International Symposium (AFOBMCIS) is one of the annual events of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology Malaysia Chapter (AFOB-MC). This year, AFOBMCIS 2022 will be mainly organised by AFOB-MC and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), co-organised by Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Cawangan Sarawak, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP).

The 4th AFOBMCIS 2022 aims to provide a platform for researchers, scientists, academicians, scholars, and industries to share knowledge and expertise in the research and development of biotechnology. This activity will help the involvement and collaboration among participants (local and international) to keep in touch in developing biotechnology for the future. This symposium is hoped to provide the opportunity for participants to showcase their research outcomes besides sharing their ideas, opinions and knowledge of the current issues related to biotechnology. 

The theme of AFOBMCIS 2022 is “Biotechnology Innovations for Sustainable Future”. Biotechnology has played a major role in shaping our future, which covers a wide range of areas. Therefore, 12 technical sessions will be covered under AFOBMCIS 2022, as follow:

1. Agricultural and Food Biotechnology
2. Applied Microbiology
3. Biopharmaceutical and Medical Biotechnology
4. Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering
5. Bioprocess and Bioseparation Engineering
6. Bioenergy and Biorefinery
7. Environmental Biotechnology
8. Marine Biotechnology
9. Nanobiotechnology, Biosensors and Biochips
10. Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology
11. Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials
12. Bioindustry Promotion and Bioeducation

The symposium will invite prestigious speakers in the biotechnology field worldwide to share their knowledge and expertise and allow networking among the participants.

Besides, a special session for young researchers will also be organised with a special award to be presented. As usual, the best poster presentation will also be awarded to the poster presenter. 

To meet the current situation, AFOBMCIS 2022 will be held physically and virtually. Langkawi Island, one of the most popular destinations in Malaysia has been chosen as the venue of the event. The event will be held at the 5 stars hotel, Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa, located at Pantai Cenang, the most famous tourist spot in Langkawi. With a reasonable registration fee, outstanding venue of the event, together with reputable speakers to be invited, this AFOBMCIS 2022 is hoped to give a fruitful and meaningful experience to all participants. 

As a record, AFOB-MC had successfully organised the AFOB Regional Symposium 2014 (ARS2014) at Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Asian Congress on Biotechnology 2015 (ACB2015) at Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur, AFOBMCIS 2018 at Pullman Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak, AFOBMCIS 2019 at The Everly Hotel, Putrajaya, and AFOBMCIS 2021, virtually. 

Chaired by Assoc Prof Ts Dr Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim from UPM and co-chaired by Ts Dr Sharifah Soplah Syed Abdullah from UniKL, the AFOBMCIS 2022 organising committee members hope this symposium will be a successful event with the enthusiastic participation of local and worldwide biotechnologists for the realization of biotechnology innovations for sustainable future.

Thank you very much and looking forward to greeting you in Langkawi. 

Assoc Prof Ts Dr Mohamad Faizal Ibrahim

Chairperson, AFOBMCIS 2022