(Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industry and University Linkage Forum)
(By Sewnet Mengistu (PhD.)
The Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industry Development (FBPID) Institute is among recently established autonomous Federal Government Institutes having its own legal personality like other sister institutes. Reports have indicated that, formerly the institute was represented by a Directorate under the ministry of Industry, The objective of the institute is to provide support to the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industry and thereby to accelerate technology transfer, achieve transformation and enable the industry to be competitive international level. One of the power and duties of the institute (as indicated in CM Regu. No. 287/2013, Article 6, Sub article 10) is to work in collaboration with universities in product and human resource development, conduct joint research activities, assist the industry in establishing linkages with universities, work with technical and vocational training institutes.
The FBPID Institute has hosted the linkage forum for key stakeholders, inline of its power and duties and following the Procedural Directives for the linkage of Education and Training, Research Institution and Industry from The Ministry of Science and Technology. The linkage forum was held on June 7, 2014, at Ghion Hotel, Addis Ababa.
Participants in the forum were officials from Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industries (both from private sectors and government), representatives from the Minister of Science and Technology, Industry Minister, selected universities including HU, Technical and Vocational institutions and other invited guests.
During the workshop briefings were made on the need for university-industry linkages and organizational structures for the linkage forums by the guest from MoST. Areas of collaboration, capacities and demands from the industry as well as from the university side were identified and discussed by participants. In the forum, linkage plan for 2007 E.C was also disclosed. Templates for designing annual plan were communicated and participants were allowed to exercise using model industry and university. The workshop was adjourned at 6:30 PM following keynote addresses from the guest of honor.