Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great privilege and honor for me to invite you to the 3rd International Oyster Symposium (IOS3) in Taipei, Taiwan. I would like to extend my hearty welcome especially to those who will come from distant parts of the world.
I am very pleased to inform you that we will have 6 keynote speakers who have produced a number of excellent achievements in the oyster research and industry. They are all in favor of the goal of this symposium and can give keynote addresses in an easily comprehensible manner.
In addition to the keynote addresses, we will have the Oral Presentation and the Poster Session. Looking through these titles for this symposium, I expect that many of the problems facing the oyster industry of the world today will be discussed. I am sure these discussions will produce many interesting and enlightening comments.
As President of the WOS, I assure you that the Organizing Committee will do their best to make this symposium fully successful. So, I hope that you will make the most of IOS3 not only in the invited lectures and the presentations of contributed papers but also in various personal contacts and discussions among the participants. I believe that you will have time to explore beautiful Taiwan by Post-Symposium Tours.
By the way, more than 4 years have passed since the WOS was formally established at the General Discussion of IOS1 held in Tokyo, Japan. The mission of the WOS is to be an instrument of goodwill, friendship and cooperation for all who have some linkage to oyster research, production and use anywhere in the world. Although this mission covers a wide range, one of the most important objectives of the WOS is to host the IOS that will be held in various places of the world. We will be glad if we can fix the site for IOS4 during this symposium. We appreciate your cooperation to fix it.
Finally, we would like to express our grateful thanks to our IOS3 sponsors and supporting organizations for their generous support.