The conference was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Dr. C. S. Karim, the honourable Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Mr. M. A. Aziz, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Mr. M. A. Karim, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, graced the inauguration ceremony as special guests.

The inauguration ceremony began by showing respect for the departed soul of Professor M. A. Saleh of the Department of Chemistry of the Chittagong University, who had been the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Conference. The house stood in silence for one minute, and then joined a prayer led by the Imam of the central Mosque of the University for the salvation of the departed soul. In his welcome address, Professor Hazari recollected the contribution of Professor Saleh to the development of the Chemistry Department, and also his scientific achievements.

Professor Ahmed Ismail Mostafa of the Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology of the Dhaka University delivered the key-note speech on the theme of the conference “University-Industry Interaction.” Both the special guests, who are also life-members of the BCS, underscored the importance of chemistry in national development. The inaugural session was presided over by the President of the BCS Professor M. Muhibur Rahman. In his speech, he expressed his gratitude to the Vice Chancellor of the University for hosting the conference, and congratulated all the members of the Department of Chemistry for organizing the conference in a befitting manner.

There were two parallel scientific sessions which followed after the short tea break, and a good number of papers were presented. The annual general meeting of the BCS was held in the afternoon.