Colombian delegation visits Hyderabad to study Telangana’s success in life science sector

Hyderabad: A high profile Columbian delegation landed in the city on September 28 visited to understand the success of Telangana’s life sciences sector. The delegation is led by Columbia’s minister of health and social protection, Fernando Ruiz Gomez, which is on a two-day visit to Hyderabad, to witness first-hand the life sciences initiatives and clusters like Genome Valley here.

Columbia’s vice minister of knowledge, innovation and productivity, Sergio Cristancho, representing the ministry of science, technology and innovation and ambassador Mariana Pacheco from the embassy of Colombia were also part of the delegation which consisted of 34 members representing various sectors.

The objective of this mission was to know and learn about the ecosystem around the production of medicines and vaccines in Hyderabad, and thus replicate the same through new regulations. The south American nation’s delegation also is here to learn how to promote manufacturing and serve the local market in Colombia, stated a press note from IT minister KT Rama Rao’s (KTR) office today.

The delegation met KTR and expressed their appreciation for the ‘phenomenal work’ carried out by the Telangana state government to promote life sciences sector, added the release.

On the delegation’s visit, KTR said, “We are delighted to host the esteemed delegation in Hyderabad-the Life Sciences capital of India. It is a matter of pride for us that leaders from Colombia are keen to study the life sciences ecosystem of Telangana to create a similar infrastructure in their country, and this is indeed a big global recognition for the efforts of state government in creating a robust life sciences ecosystem”

Principal secretary (industries and commerce) Jayesh Ranjan and Shakthi Nagappan, director (Life Sciences & Pharma) and CEO of Hyderabad Pharma City Ltd also participated in the meeting.

Ambassador Mariana Pacheco, Embassy of Colombia, said “On behalf of the Government of Colombia let me thank the Government of Telangana for their open arms and generosity with Colombia. We are very impressed with the development of the cluster for Biomedical research, for the extraordinary Pharma and vaccine manufacturing and for the promotion of training of key personnel for the ecosystem to continue growing. Our admiration for your generosity for the good of India and humanity”.

The delegation also visited Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR–CCMB) and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) to learn about the ongoing research, industry academia institution and scientific infrastructure present at the institute.

The statement from KTR’s office added that the delegation visited Genome Valley to witness the eminence of India’s first clean R&D and manufacturing sector. They also visited IKP knowledge park and MN park to witness the R&D facilities companies present in the premises.