July 7, 2017
Last month over 1,100 biotech companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations from across the United States and more than 30 other countries gathered in San Diego for BIO International, the largest biotech industry gathering in the world. The San Diego Regional Chamber met with the French-American and the South-Africa Chambers of Commerce to strengthen relationships and create networking opportunities for businesses from their regions looking to invest in San Diego, as well as for local businesses thinking about investing abroad.
Additionally, together with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce we hosted an Innovation & Intellectual Property roundtable with Congressman Scott Peters during the BIO International Week. At the event Rep. Peters was presented with the U.S. Chamber’s Spirit of Enterprise Award for his support of pro-growth, pro-business policies. For more on the roundtable visit the Global Intellectual Property Center website here.
The BIO International convention offered key networking opportunities, featured keynotes and sessions from key policymakers, scientists, and CEOs, and one-on-one partnering (BIO Business Forum), with hundreds of sessions covering biotech trends, policy issues and technological innovations. This year, San Diego broke all previous records, hosting over 41,400 partnering meetings, included over 1,800 exhibitors, and more than 800 speakers at 400 educational sessions and company presentations.
As part of the program, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) and Thailand Center of Excellence for Lice Sciences (TCELS) cohosted a delegation from Thailand on June 19 to June 22, and offered a seminar on the country’s life science, medical, and biotech industries. BOI supports biotechnology companies investing in Thailand by granting an 8-year corporate income tax exemption, with some eligible to receive an additional exemption of import duties on machinery, as well as a 5-year 50 percent corporate income tax reduction on net profits for those located in science and technology parks.