As it was mentioned, the seminar was the result of intensification of joint activities of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and American partners, primarily the National Academies of the USA, in recent years. Agreements on cooperation between the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the world leaders in the field of information technologies such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Oracle, and others have been signed. Contracts for the supply of equipment, software development, certification, development and analysis of new materials on request of American partners have been realized.
However, as the Chairman of the NASB Presidium Vladimir Gusakov noted, "Today both the American and Belarusian sides need to expand joint scientific activities aimed at practical implementation of results in the real sector of the economy of the two states." Glenn Schweitzer, Director of the Office for Central Europe and Eurasia of the US National Academies, in his turn confirmed the intention of the American side to increase cooperation with Belarusian scientific organizations. During the current visit, it is planned to discuss the mechanisms for introducing research into practice, into the real sector of the economy. In particular, the American side is interested in cooperation with Belarusian counterparts in the field of agriculture, namely in such areas as updating soil maps, reducing the use of antibiotics in poultry farming, improving the quality of control of productivity of agricultural products, introducing innovations in vegetable production, etc.
The second Belarusian-American seminar on scientific and technical cooperation "Science for Agriculture" is held at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on May 2–3, 2017. Representatives of the US National Academies, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the Center for Global Connections in Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of Michigan, and the Plant Sciences Institute of the University of Iowa participate in the seminar as members of the delegation of the scientific community of the United States of America. They have already held talks with the leadership of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on the promising areas of Belarusian-American cooperation. It is planned that members of the American delegation will visit the Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research, the NASB Institute of Genetics and Cytology, the NASB Scientific and Practical Center for Foodstuffs, the NASB Researchers Training Institute, the NASB Scientific and Practical Center for Arable Farming, the NASB Scientific and Practical Center for Animal Breeding, and the Central Botanical Garden.
The first Belarusian-American seminar on scientific and technical cooperation was held at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on December 13–18, 2015.
