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Biotech: IFC to focus on India
By agencies
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Friday, 17 June 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: Observing that India was on the "threshold of biotech revolution", International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, has said the country was the "centerpiece" of its global strategy.
"IFC would stay committed to support the growing Indian biotech industry in projects where IFC can demonstrate a strong role," Assaad Jabre, IFC's acting executive vice president, said following his meeting with Union Minister for Science, Technology and Ocean Development Kapil Sibal.
Sibal, who visited IFC headquarters in Washington D.C., early this week along with a biotech delegation from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, expressed eagerness to find ways to build public private partnerships with IFC to promote the biotech sector in India, an IFC spokesperson said.
IFC sees its role in "promoting innovation and growth in mid to small-sized companies, supporting their research and development investments, and expansion of their markets and manufacturing bases to other developing and regulated countries," Jabre said.
Jabre said IFC was a relatively new investor in the life sciences sector and to date had invested only $110 million across 14 projects globally, of which a significant portion ($43 million) is in four projects in India "the centerpiece of IFC's global biotech strategy."
India is on the threshold of a biotech revolution, following closely on its success in the information technology sector, IFC officials noted.