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United Arab Emirates plan biotechnology in Dubai

The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to create a 400 million dollar research and development park in Dubai. The park will be called DuBiotech and is a bid to embrace biotechnology as a tool for economic and social development.

DuBiotech shall include two main initiatives an industrial cluster and a foundation for research and innovation.

By allowing 100 per cent foreign ownership and repatriation of profits, as well as zero tax, the industrial cluster will aim to attract companies active in biotechnology and pharmaceutical research and development.

It will also house other companies offering support services such as venture capital, legal services, and training tailored to the biotechnology sector.

The foundation for research and innovation shall channel government funding into research and development in fields such as medical genetics and stem cell research, crop biotechnology and pharmaceutical research.

DuBiotech shall also have a strong social focus, says its executive director, Abdulqader Al-Khayat. It shall collaborate on research with universities, medical research institutions and non-governmental organisations in the United Arab Emirates and the wider Gulf region, and promote the use of biotechnology to bring social, economic and environmental benefits.

Construction at the three square kilometre DuBiotech site will begin in the second half of 2005 and companies should be able to move into operational premises by the second quarter of 2006.

"It is time that the region gets its share of the biotechnology market" said Faisal Taha, director of technical programmes at Dubai's International Center for Biosaline Agriculture.