The Bibliotheca Alexandrina invited leaders in science, government, NGOs, the media, farmers' groups, the private sector and the civil society both from the developing and the industrialized world to meet in the first conference to take place at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, well before its official opening.

The event covered the multi-faceted dimensions of the biotechnology debate, the scientific, ethical and safety issues, as well as the regulatory, Intellectual Property Rights and trade and economic issues.

Too frequently in the past, these issues have been discussed in separate and uncoordinated forums, where the government representation came from different ministries and looked at only one part of the issue. There were also representations from the ministries of agriculture, environment, health, education, scientific research, foreign affairs and international economy and trade who ultimately represented their countries at so many different venues: the WTO, FAO, WHO, UN and many more.

The conference focused on three main themes:

Theme 1: Food and Agriculture

Theme 2: Human Health

Theme 3: Ethics & Environmental Safety