India and Croatia will set up a joint committee and create a one million Euros Joint Fund to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in the areas of biotechnology, pharmacology and nanotechnology, besides facilitating more interactions between the scientists from both the sides.

Both the countries would hold a meeting of the joint committee in three months to develop modalities and identifying projects under the joint fund, to be set up with equal contribution from the two sides. This was decided during the visit of Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal to Croatia. Sibal and Croatiian Minister of Science Dragan Primorac also signed a joint declaration to this effect, according to official sources.

The joint declaration pursues the Programme of Cooperation in science and technology for the period 2005-08 being implemented by the Department of Science & Technology on the Indian side and Ministry of Science, Education and Sports on the Croatian side. It aims at further expanding and intensifying two-way exchanges between the scientific R&D communities of India and Croatia.

"The Parties shall further strengthen bilateral cooperation in scientific R&D, by intensifying and developing cooperation in the following fields: environment, oceanography, biotechnology, pharmacology, nanotechnology and shipbuilding,'' the joint declaration said.

India has agreed to the participation of its scientists in peer reviews/evaluations of Croatian national R&D projects. Indian Party will provide to the Croatian Party a list of Indian experts/institutions for this purpose. Both Parties would develop and adopt appropriate plans of action and cooperation, to effectively implement the objectives of the declaration.

Pharmaceutical products have been one of the main items of export from India to Croatia in the recent times. A Memorandum of Understanding is under consideration of the Croatian government for cooperation and collaboration in Indian traditional systems of medicine.

India exported goods worth $44.92 million during the year of 2004 while imports from Croatia stood at $2.15 million. There are collaborations between leading pharma companies of the two countries. Pharma major Pliva has an agreement with Dr Reddy's Laboratories covering development and marketing for eleven oncology products.