Delegates from more than 20 countries will meet this week in Washington, DC, to find out how countries can build the science, technology and innovation capacity they need to reduce poverty, said a statement released by the World Bank on Monday.

"More and more countries are coming to the conclusion that they can't solve their problems unless they build science and technology capacity," said Alfred Watkins, Science and Technology Program Coordinator for the World Bank.

"This doesn't mean going into a research laboratory to invent something new," he said. "For most countries it means developing the capacity to find, adapt, and use knowledge already in wide use in other countries, but not widely used inside their own country."

Explaining what capacity building is and how to do it are the principal goals of the Global Forum on Building Science, Technology and Innovation Capacity for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction on Feb. 13 to 15, said the statement.

Some 300 participants including policy-makers and Cabinet members will discuss about how to build science and technology capacity that will add value to natural resource exports and help local industry become more productive and competitive, it said.

They will also explore what kinds of changes need to be made in educational systems to produce graduates who meet the needs of companies that would like to hire them, or who can design and build roads or provide health care in rural communities, the statement added.

Source: Xinhua