The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and the Honourable Michael Currie, Prince Edward Island Minister of Development & Technology, today announced $235,400 in funding to enable Atlantic Canadian organizations to participate in BIO 2003, from June 22-25, 2003 in Washington, D.C. Assistance is being provided through the Canada/Atlantic Provinces COOPERATION Agreement on International Business Development (IBDA).
Organizers are calling BIO 2003 (Biotechnology Industry Organization) the largest, most comprehensive conference and exhibition in the history of biotechnology, attracting close to 20,000 biotechnology executives, politicians, scientists, and reporters from more than 20 countries.
The event will take place at the newly opened Washington Convention Centre in a city that is home to the second-largest cluster in ICT and the third-largest cluster in biotechnology in the United States.
"ACOA's efforts to help diversify the Atlantic Canadian economy includes a focus on a number of key growth sectors," said Minister Byrne. "The biotechnology sector represents one of those leading international economic sectors, and as such, we need to be where the industry leaders are and to participate where discussions for the future of the industry are being held."
The biotechnology sector employed more than 162,000 worldwide in 2000, up from 79,000 in 1993, while market capitalization for biotechnology firms increased from $39 billion to $353 billion in the same time period. It is one of the key sectors targeted in the IBDA's trade strategies for Atlantic Canada.
"Technology PEI has a strong commitment to the growth and development of the Bio Resources & Life Science Industry on PEI," said Minister Currie. "This growth Industry comprises some 32 Island-owned companies, responsible for 2002 sales in excess of $83 million, and attracting over $13.2 million in Research & Development public funding. The Province is very supportive of this sector as it creates meaningful employment opportunities for Islanders."
While Canada as a whole boasts the second largest biotechnology industry in the world, Atlantic Canada's biotechnology sector is diversified, well supported by research and development organizations, and undergoing dramatic growth. Projections for 2002 forecast an increase in revenues of almost 70 % over 1999.
The major areas of activity in Atlantic Canada's biotechnology industry are as follows: Industrial & Urban Processing; Agriculture, Aquaculture & Horticultural Biotechnology; Pharmaceutical & Biomedical; Instrumentation and Agrifood Biotechnology.
The IBDA is designed to increase exporting in Atlantic Canada by funding projects that help small- and medium-sized companies explore, enter and succeed in international markets.
First signed in May 1994, the $13-million Agreement involves three federal departments - the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Industry Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade as well as the four Atlantic Canadian provincial governments: Nova Scotia Business Inc., Business New Brunswick, PEI Business Development and the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Trade, Technology and Rural Development. ACOA provides 70 percent of the funding while the provincial governments provide the remaining 30 percent.