Due to current travel restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic, the 7th annual meeting of ASEAN Network on Microbial Utilization (AnMicro) was held fully online on September 18th, 2020. The online meeting was hosted by Thailand Bioresource Research Center (TBRC), National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC) broadcasted from Thailand Science Park, Thailand. The delegates from current AnMicro members (18 institutes/organizations from 7 ASEAN countries) participated via teleconference system to update the recent progress and discuss the future collaboration of the network. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Lily Eurwilaichitr, Vice President of NSTDA who facilitated the meeting agenda as AnMicro secretariat.

This meeting presented achievements and progresses of ASEAN microbial community, including an introduction of AmiBase: ASEAN microbial data hub and its platform, the new “Bioentrepreneur” working group which integrated BioBusiness and Knowledge Sharing working groups to one umbrella, and an introduction of new members; 1. Faculty of Science and Technology, International University, Cambodia, 2. Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), A*STAR and 3. Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM).

The next 8th AnMicro Annual Meeting will be held by the Airlangga University (UNAIR), Indonesia. The schedule is in July 2021. The exact date will be announced soon.