British Columbia-India

To foster mutually beneficial partnerships between BC and India, the Ministry of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development, Government of BC, established an agreement with ISTPCanada in 2008 to:

• Foster BC-India partnership development activity in priority sectors such as life sciences;
• Fund collaborative R&D projects with commercial potential between Indian and BC-based companies; and
• Support internships for students and researchers who will work in the other jurisdiction on R&D projects, enabling the development of highly qualified people.  

Since the inception of this agreement, ISTPCanada made progress towards these objectives by:

• Conducting matchmaking sessions that facilitated several dozen ‘matches’ between Indian and BC-based researchers and companies.  
• Co-organizing and co-hosting the BC-India B2B Partnership Summit on Life Sciences with the Government of BC in January 2010. The outcomes of this event will support the creation of a BC-India partnering service for SMEs.
• Funding a BC-India R&D project in life sciences that engages bioLytical Laboratories (Richmond, BC) valued at more than $1.35 million. The Government of BC is contributing $156,675 to this project, gaining leverage of more than $7.00 on every dollar invested.  
• Launching a student internship program in collaboration with MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems, Network of Centres of Excellence) and the Government of BC that enabled 17 students to conduct an internship at BC-based universities in summer 2009.