Report Mission Bioregion Valle del Cauca, Colombia Germany Cali, May 2011 Executive Summary The Cauca Valley Region in Colombia has been pioneer in identifying the opportunity of a Bio-based development and economy, taking advantage of its mega natural biodiversity as well as a diverse institutional network of industries, academic and research accredited organizations with national and international perspectives that contributes to productive developments accounting for 40% of the GDP of the region. Valle del Cauca formulated in 2007 the Valle del Cauca Bioregion Plan to 2019: A strategy for development and competitiveness. This plan was the result of a 3-year collaborative work within the region aiming to become a Bioregion following the Bioregions German strategy. As a first phase, the Bioregion strategy has been promoted through various initiatives on regional institutional building. One of these initiatives has been supported by a Colciencias co-financed project, which designed a Regional System of Innovation of Biotechnology (SRIB) for agriculture, agroindustry, bioindustry (including food, bioenergy, cosmetics and pharma). One of the priorities identified in 2010 for the implementation of SRIB was to promote the Valle del Cauca Bioregion locally and internationally, aiming the concurrence of selected participants and collaborations with other Bioregions. Based on this objective, a Mission to Germany was proposed to the BMBF in 2010. This proposal was the result of previous participation of delegates from Valle del Cauca in representation of Colombia as part of the Latin America team delegation in Biotechnica, Germany. This is the first international Mission of representatives from Valle del Cauca Bioregion executed within the implementation of the SRIB common agenda. This first Mission to Germany took place from the 14 th to the 20 th May 2011. This report summarizes the Mission participants vision on the main achievements accomplished and a proposed future action plan for a bilateral collaboration between Valle del Cauca Bioregion and Germany. 1. Background Valle del Cauca in Colombia has been pioneer in identifying the opportunities for a Biobased development region, taking advantage of its mega biodiversity and institutional
network of enterprises including industry, academia and research organizations that contribute for 40% of the GDP of the region (CoBI, 2007) 1, productivity which is mainly based on biological resources as raw materials. Valle del Cauca formulated in 2007 the Valle del Cauca Bioregion Plan to 2019: A strategy for development and competitiveness. This plan was the result of a 3-year collaborative work within the region aiming to become a Bioregion emulating the German strategy. Some important Colombian government decisions followed since then: 1) Bioindustry was included in the World Class Challenges for the Valle del Cauca in the Regional Competitiveness Plan (2009), 2) The Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Law of the country was adopted including a regional Bio-based knowledge development among the main priorities for Colombia, and 3) A new funding strategy is planned for STI in the country with focus on regional developments. Given that Valle del Cauca is recognized in Colombia as a bio-economy, and that agricultural and rural development has been identified by the government as one of the national priorities (Colombian National Plan 2010/2014), Corporación Biotec in a joint effort with other institutions in the region has been promoting the Bioregion strategy through various initiatives on regional institutional building. One of these initiatives has been supported by a Colciencias co-financed project promoting a Regional System of Innovation of Biotechnology (SRIB) for agriculture, agroindustry, and bioindustry aiming to attract national and international resources and investment for the implementation of the Valle del Cauca Bioregion strategy. One of the prioritized activities identified within the common agenda of SRIB (2010) was to promote the public visibility of the Valle del Cauca Bioregion through local and international missions to other Bioregions. Researchers from Valle del Cauca had already participated in representation for Colombia in two BMBF missions to Biotechnica (2008 and 2010). This participation gave the opportunity for getting acquainted of the organization, funding strategies, lines of investment, potential problems and benefits from the German Bioregions strategy and to identify potential bilateral complementary interests and opportunities with Germany as well as with other Latin American countries, such as CENIBiot (Costa 1 These productive developments can be put into ten bio industry chains, in different development levels: 1) Industrialized short cycles agriculture. 2) Food and feed Agriculture and agro-industry. 3) Micro-organisms (yeasts) and derived. 4) Sugarcane cluster. 5) Fruits. 6) Coffee. 7) Forest and paper industry and derived. 8) Fishing production and marine Industry 9) Oil, soaps and cosmetic industry. 10) Natural products, derived from the sustainable use of the biodiversity.
Rica)/ Corporacion Biotec collaboration. In addition to CENIBiot, Biotecsur has become a reference for a potential European Union cooperation for Biotechnology platforms. A Mission for 2011 to Germany was proposed to the BMBF in 2010 as result of the previous participations from Valle del Cauca in Biotechnica. This mission is the first international Mission of representatives from Valle del Cauca Bioregion executed within the implementation of the SRIB common agenda. Colombia and Germany signed bilateral agreements of collaboration in early 2011. These agreements include main areas in STI, which increases likelihood for concrete collaboration between Germany and Valle del Cauca. Additionally, the Colombian Biotechnology Program at Colciencias, is implementing an investment policy on regional biotechnology National platforms, favoring national and international, public and private alliances. In this context, Valle del Cauca Bioregion is proposing a decentralized, coordinated Biotechnology platform for agriculture, agro industry and bio industry (including food, bio-energy, cosmetics and pharma) research, innovation and development, to serve the mega agro and biodiverse Pacific region 2. Under this proposal, the German Bioeconomy program could have an interesting participation as international partner. Taking this scenario into account and being aware that the BMBF Minister is visiting Colombia next October 2011 jointly with a group of experts, we would like to propose that a visit to the Valle del Cauca Bioregion is included in the program, and that this mission participants institutions may aid to organize and also serve as host for the visit of the BMBF Minister and German experts group when visiting the Valle del Cauca The Mission took place from the 14 th to the 20 th May 2011. (See annex 2 and 3: Participants and Program) 3. This follow up report has been collectively written up by the mission participants. This report outlines the main results from this first mission to Germany, summarizes the participants perspectives for bilateral collaboration between the Valle del Cauca Bioregion Mission and Germany. Valle del Cauca, Cauca, Nariño and Chocó, form a region in the western area of Colombia. Regional development is a national policy in the Development National Plan 2010-2014 of Colombia 3 The Colombian Embassy in Berlin, The Ambassador Dr. Mejía and the education responsible Dr. Castro, received the Bioregion Group together with BMBF representatives, and discussed strategic subjects of bilateral interest for collaboration. The next Ambassador, Dr. Mayer was contacted once in Colombia.
2. Objectives of the Mission General Objective: led key representatives from Valle del Cauca Bioregion learn from firsthand about the German Bioregion strategy, and promote the Valle del Cauca Bioregion as a leading region for the application of biotechnology in Colombia as part of the SRIB strategy. Specific Objectives Getting acquainted of the organization, funding strategies, lines of investment, potential problems and benefits, and outcomes from the German Bioregions strategy Learning about regional and international experiences related to application of green, red and white biotechnology Benchmarking with the Biovalley Cluster, other Bioregions initiatives, and Competences networks Evaluating potential opportunities for bilateral alliances, cooperation and investment 3. Participants List of Participants Mission Valle del Cauca Bioregion to Germany 14 th to the 20 th May 2011
4. Program (see Attachment 1) 5. Main areas of Interest for collaboration with Germany As result of the objectives accomplished during this mission, below is described main strengths from the Valle del Cauca Bioregion under the SRIB strategy that might be of interest and a set of areas proposed by the participants for potential future collaboration with Germany a. Complementary research and innovation cooperation Through the SRIB initiative, Valle del Cauca offers an interdisciplinary network of institutions that includes Universities, Research Institutions, and industry with strength in the fields of life sciences (especially on characterization and use/ added value of natural biodiversity, phytochemistry, organic chemistry, material sciences), tropical agriculture, plant biotechnology, health, pharma and cosmetics, environmental engineering, economics, small and medium entrepreneurship program with international recognition, food /chemical/ paper industries with ecoefficient / renewable approach, and a diverse agroindustry/ bioindustry. Three Universities (Universidad del Valle, Universidad Icesi, and Universidad Nacional nucleus Palmira) with High-Quality Institutional Accreditation granted by the Colombian Ministry of Education for undergraduate and post-graduate programs Three agriculture research institutions (Corporación Biotec, Cenicaña and CIAT) with national / international scope and outreach The strongest national Pharma and Cosmetics industry with interest in red biotechnology and natural products
b. Capacity building (training, mobility, scientific and technical transfer) Establishment of an exchange program for students (under-graduate and graduate level)/ post-docs/ professors between Universidad Icesi, Universidad el Valle and Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira and Freiburg University and Weihenstephan University These two German Universities are mentioned since are the ones we visited, however it is envisaged that might be of interest to include others participating in the Bio Clusters listed below according to specific fields. The development of an inter-institutional/ collaborative Ph.D. program on Plant Biotechnology targeting Colombia interest: Universidad del Valle, Universidad Icesi, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira and CIAT c. Biotechnology and high value added bio-ingredients for industry applications and sustainable use of biodiversity Suggestions of German Bio Clusters /Institutions and areas of interest: Bio Valley and Freiburg University: strategy and know-how for industry/ research/ education and capacity building in life sciences (biology and chemistry), biotechnology (plant biotechnology, bio pharma, medicine), pharmacology, and environmental engineering BioCampus Straubing: Green chemistry, renewable raw material research and technology, biomass production for energy and agri/bio supplies Munich Biotech Cluster (BioM, industries and universities) and Weihenstephan University: innovative biotechnology and bioinformatics applied to agriculture, food industry, environmental engineering, pharma and medicine BioTop Berlin Brandenburg: genomics and proteomics, drug discovery and development, industrial biotechnology, bio ingredients from agro and biodiversity for pharma and cosmetic Industry, nutragenomics applied to natural ingredients for cosmetic and food industries and public health, food regulations, technological tools for REACH regulations implementation and control. BMBF Bioeconomy to 2030 German Strategy: Dr. Henk van Liempt (BMBF Head of Bioeconomy) gave us a presentation indicating that most of narural resources and market opportunities are in Latin America and the Caribbean, and within the implementation of this strategy there are current
bilateral collaboration with Argentina and Brazil. This Mission participants would like to explore ways on how Colombia including the Valle del Cauca Bioregion, could also be engaged in such initiatives since in addition of being a rich area on natural and tropical agricultre diversity, this region already has various initiatives in concordance with the Bioeconomy to 2030 agenda in agriculture, health and bio- industry. Eventhough it is recognized that Colomba and our regiona has some bottlenecks in access to cutting edge technology development when compare to Germany or more developed LAC countries such as Brazil, a collaboration with Colombia may open new opportunities for technology transfer and human resources capacity building intitiaves engaging one of the richest biodiversity regions. The Valle del Cauca has an arrays of ecosystem including the Choco bioregion, which is more biodiversity rich per square meter and with a high percentage of endemic species when compare to the Amazon, coastal area of Pacific Ocean where it is located the main Colombian port. The Department includes two branches of the Andes mountain range and the widest Valley in Colombia with the best road infraestrcuture with rapid mobility in the country allowing interconection between highly developed agriculture and rural areas. d. Organizational Model for development of Science, Technology and Innovation triggered by public/private policy and investment STI policy design and implementation for Valle del Cauca: There is interest in developing a policy to tailor innovation management for a regional Bio-based economy. It is proposed to develop the business Plan for SRIB and IFAN (Fruit Industry at Agrópolis del Norte) in collaboration the International Bureau BMBF and VDI VDE-IT from (Germany), and the Colombian Embassy in Berlin and Colciencias (Colombia). Upon the return from this Mission, Colciencias indicated its support for such initiative. 6. Action Plan a. Determine areas of mutual interest (Germany and Valle del Cauca/Colombia) for implementation of a defined collaboration 1. Stakeholder sharing and support for the development of the general collaboration proposal (Colciencias, MinComercio, Codecti, Private and public engaged institutions, BMBF and German delegation) 2. Business Plan to execute the priority areas selected for this collaboration In order to accomplish these tasks it will be important having a face-to-face meeting with a delegation of German scientists and active enterprises in R&D in other to better identify the potential areas of collaboration
b. BMBF Mission on October 2011 (BMBF, Colciencias, Colombian Embassy) It will be important having a German delegation composed by scientists and active enterprises in R&D to visit selected areas / projects in Valle del Cauca, which may serve a base for the identification of areas of mutual interest. During this visit the delegation will be exposed to seleted projects in interdisciplinary network of institutions that includes Universities, Research Institutions, and industry with strength in the fields of life sciences, native biodiversity (caracterization and use), tropical agriculture, plant biotechnology, health, pharma and cosmetics, small and medium entrepreneurship program. A fine tuned and tailored program will be developed according to interest before the visit c. Design of Proposal and Implementation of Bilateral Collaboration Some of this mission participant (Myriam Sanchez, Zaida Lentini and Gerardo Gallego) were invited to attend part of the FP7 Project ALCUE-KBBE Kick-Off Meeting to be held in Cali, Colombia, 22-24 June 2011, with the objective of developing an ALCUE SOM Working Group. During that meeting, this mission participant will contact Prof. Ulrich Schurr (Forschungszentrum Jülich Center) to discus and convey the ideas presented within this report, and get his feedback. The elements for the design and Implementation of Bilateral Collaboration should derive from the interactions for defining areas of mutual interests. d. Funding proposal for the European Union for the SRIB platform This mission group is also interested on working towards a proposal following other cases in the region such as CENIBiot, Costa Rica, and BiotecSur, as a reference for a potential European Union cooperation for Biotechnology platforms in the Valle del Cauca Bioregion. 7. Acknowledgements From the initial initiative, Dr. Stephanie Splett, Head of Group North and South America at the International Bureau of the BMBF has been a special and effective support. Dr. Cornelia Anderson, also from International Bureau of the BMBF, has joined the team during the mission. Marianne Vaske from Amik has been a great support to the planning and implementation of the mission. We express our gratitude to the Colombian Embassy in Berlin for its kind and useful collaboration during the mission, and their support and engagement for following
developments of the mission. The Colombian Embassy in Berlin, The Ambassador Dr. Mejía and the education responsible Dr. Castro, received the Bioregion Group together with representatives of the IB of the BMBF, and discussed strategic subjects of bilateral interest for collaboration. The next Ambassador, Dr. Mayer was contacted once we arrived in Colombia. We would like to recognize Colciencias institutional support. Dr. Jorge Alfonso Cano and Dr. Mauricio Rodriguez have been supportive since the preparation of this Mission. We would like to acknowledge also, Corporacion Biotec for the iniciative, Corporación Biotec and Araujo Ibarra for the Mission organization from Colombia, Corporación Biotec and CIAT for the organization of the workshop Biotechnology for nonbiotechnologist, taken by diverse representatives from the industry prior this mission, and to Icesi, CIAT, Universidad del Valle, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Corporación Biotec and Araujo Ibarra, for supporting the participation of their representatives in the mission. We want to recognize the commitment, prior, during and after the mission, of the group of participants who have become a committed team.,