Barbados government launches initiatives to attract biotech companies

The government of Barbados yesterday announced two new initiatives to attract leading-edge biotechnology companies to the island nation. The main thrusts of the plan are the creation of a state-of-the-art laboratory for world-class R&D initiatives and the establishment of a regulatory authority to oversee biotech R&D to international standards.

"Because of these initiatives, we believe that biotechnology companies will find this country to be an ideal location in which to operate," said Senator Darcy Boyce, Minister of Energy, Immigration, Telecommunications and Invest Barbados. "They build on the existing reasons why Barbados is widely recognized as a great place for investment, including our highly educated work force, our low-tax environment and extensive tax and investment-protection treaty network, our sophisticated business infrastructure, our fiscal incentives for investment, and, of course, our quality of life and friendly people," he added.

Member of Parliament David Estwick, Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries, Industry and Small Business Development, added: "We have recognized that start-up biotech companies often face two major problems when establishing themselves: first, the large capital investment required to secure laboratory space and equipment; and second, the delays caused by the lengthy R&D approval processes imposed by the regulatory agencies of developed countries, which are often exacerbated by backlogs and cross-agency bureaucracy."