Indo-German Dialogue is focusing on Indian expertise and has inked a pact with Germany to widen scope for growth in the biotech sector. The Dialogue is an effort to promote collaboration between the two countries mainly in the field of biotechnology.

Emphasizing the need for such a collaboration, Anandi Iyer, representative, Indo German Chamber, said that German officials complained about IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) in India. They cited this as one of the factors that made it hard for multi-national companies to expand in India.

However, Iyer said that Indian officials tended to disagree with this. The major reason for this difference in opinion is the absence of a forum to promote co-operation between the two countries and this effort will provide for better collaboration, besides ensuring long term platform for future joint ventures.

Further, she stated  that this collaboration would concentrate on fields associated with biotechnology, including bio-medics, bio-informatics, bio-pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, among others. Dr Satya Dash,chief operating officer, Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) said that with proper collaboration and right investment, India can compete in the global market for such products and the collaboration with Germany was a step in the right direction.

The key opportunities in India were in bio-pharmaceuticals, bio-agriculture, bio-informatics and bio-fuels. ABLE was working with the government to create a policy that supports innovation and marketing of such products in domestic and international markets. Between 2003 and 2011, the biotechnology market has grown from $52 million to $4 billion. Therefore government support would give the economy a fillip. Considering that half of the Indian population is under 25 years, there is a lot of potential here. There was also a high prevalence of diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular and cancer. To treat these conditions, biomedicine was much preferred, stated Dr. Dash.

India is home to leading medical research centres engaged in the development of products that were both  advanced and affordable. The launch of the hand-held ECG, baby warmers, and other early detection and prevention systems manufactured in India and for India proved the expertise in this part of  the world.

According to Ingo Carsten-Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, the collaboration with India would be successful. Biotechnology in Germany contributed 10 per cent to the economy against 8 per cent by automotive industry. There is considerable scope for growth.

Peter Cichon - Regional Strategy and Business Development Manager Asia Pacific, Bayer HealthCare, asserted that such a collaboration was important for both the countries. On the one hand, it will boost India's economy and on the other, benefit German pharmaceutical companies.

The most important step would be communicating directly with local entrepreneurs and small emerging companies so that the small efforts can be clubbed together to make this sector an economic success, pointed out Cichon.