June 27, 2002 — The president of Belarus’ National Academy of Sciences said the governmental research organization should focus on nanotechnology, biotechnology and microelectronics.

Mikhail Miasnikovich said this week that Belarus, a former Soviet republic, has no clear system of putting innovative decisions into practice. He said his nation’s scientists should unite for the benefit of the economy, according to Interfax Information Services.

To that end, he said, the academy’s priority is to cooperate with the academia. “Innovation is impossible without science and science is impossible without education,” he said in the report.