2nd July 2012
International trade missions aim at generating £10m for Welsh life science firms
Matt Withers, WalesOnline Jun 18 2012
The Welsh Government has announced a new international trade programme aimed at generating £10m for life science firms in Wales.
Business Minister Edwina Hart has approved £500,000 in funding programme which will help around 90 Wales-based businesses seek trade opportunities and new business overseas.
The announcement comes as five-Wales based companies today join the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) delegation travelling to the Bio International Convention in Boston, USA, the largest global event for the biotechnology industry.
It attracts the biggest names in the industry, offering “key networking and partnering opportunities”, and includes discussions and debates on the major trends affecting the industry. The Welsh delegation includes leaders in the field including Biomonde, Biocatalysts, Biotec Services International, Ruskinn, Simbec Research and Q Chip.
The programme is expected to generate more than 60 new investment opportunities from overseas, with the aim of generating £10m of new trade deals for participating Welsh companies, as well as providing an opportunity for Welsh companies to build relationships with distributors and existing customers to create future sales opportunities.
Following this week’s event in Boston, they will move on to the China International Medical Equipment Fair in Chengdu in September.
China is supporting a major programme for health which includes 20,000 new medical facilities, offering a strong trade potential for Welsh life science businesses. It is the largest medical equipment exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region, attracting more than 120,000 visitors from more than 100 countries, and this year’s will be the first Welsh Government trade delegation to attend this event.
The next event is then AdvaMed 2012:The MedTech Conference in October, also in Boston, one of the largest meetings of medical technology firms in the world. The global roadshow then moves onto Aus Biotech in Melbourne, Australia at the end of the month, the largest event in Australasia.
The firms will then come back to Europe for the Medica Trade Fair in Dusseldorf, Germany, the world’s largest event for the medical sector with more than 4,300 exhibitors from innovative small companies to global players.
Finally, they will move on to Arab Health in Dubai, the second largest trade fair in the world for the healthcare and medical devices industry. The region is in the process of developing a number of medial facilities which require significant international procurement.
Life sciences and health were one of the three priority areas identified in the Welsh Government’s Science for Wales strategy for research and business capabilities would be built and developed.
The life sciences strategy is being driven by a private-sector-led advisory panel chaired by biotech serial entrepreneur and investor Sir Chris Evans.
Earlier this year the Welsh Government announced it was to commit £25m to the fund with immediate effect. That will be followed by a £25m commitment in the second year, with the Welsh Government seeking to match-fund both contributions, creating a £100m fund in total.
The creation of the fund follows a review into the life sciences sector led by Port Talbot-born Sir Chris.
He is confident that he can attract a further £200m to the fund from private sector investors. Overall he predicted that the fund would create more than £1bn of value over the next decade.
In addition to the fund Sir Chris earlier this year announced the creation of a specialist biotech hub, employing industry experts to oversee the development of the sector in Wales.