Bruno Bruins, Dutch Minister leads delegation to Bangalore for innovative collaboration

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M Neelam Kachhap

Bengaluru, 17 October 2019: Dutch Minister for Medical Care and Sport, Mr. Bruno Bruins, Chair of the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health, Ms. Carmen van Vilsteren, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Ms. Marjolijn Sonnema and Chairman of the Top sector Horticulture & Starting Materials, Mr. Loek Hermans led delegation visited Bangalore today. The two delegations Healthcare and Horticulture & Agriculture had two day program, October 17-18,of field visits, matchmaking and seminars with key stakeholders from Karnataka. Minister Bruins and Vice Minister Sonnema met with the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Dr. Ashwathnarayan C.N. and key government officials from Horticulture & Agriculture and Commerce & Industry. The delegation comes from New Delhi, where they attended the India-Netherlands Technology Summit 2019 on October 15-16, jointly organized by the Netherlands and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. The Tech Summit focused on co-creating innovative solutions for global challenges related to water, food and good health for all. It was attended by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Cooperation in Healthcare Life Sciences and Healthcare is a priority sector under bilateral collaboration between India and the Netherlands. Growing market opportunities in India, combined with the Netherlands’ strengths in areas such as Therapeutics & Vaccines, Medtech and Digital Health create excellent opportunities for partnerships that address shared societal challenges with smart solutions and make India a valuable partner for the Dutch LSH Sector. The affordability and accessibility of healthcare remains at the core of partnerships between the Indian and the Dutch stakeholders. To encourage partnerships around important themes of affordability and accessibility, a Healthcare Seminar was organised at Hotel Four Seasons in Bengaluru that brought together government officials, healthcare practitioners, med-tech companies, IT companies, academic institutes and start-ups. The Ministerial and business delegation also visited Philips Innovation Campus, Centre for Cellular & Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), Narayana Health City and Anthem Biosciences. 4 MoU’s were signed during a Holland Trade Reception hosted by Consul-General of the kingdom of the Netherlands in Bengaluru, Mr. Gert Heijkoop. The overview is given below:

Co-development Agreement between Dutch company, CareAnimations and National Institute for Mental Health and Neuro Science, Bengaluru to co-develop animated videos aimed at mass population to increase awareness and acceptance of mental disorders and stimulate the willingness to seek professional help.
MoU between Dutch company CareAnimations and Centre for Social Action, Christ University Bengaluru to develop animated videos aimed at people in urban slums to increase awareness, understanding and willingness to act with regard to a range of Public Health issues, such as clean drinking water, sanitation, education, substance abuse, etc.
MoU between Dutch company, CareAnimations and AIC-Octo Spaces Incubator Services Private Limited, Hyderabad to explore synergies in improving Indian private hospital sector with better patient service, patient outcomes, patient satisfaction and patient retention, combined with higher efficiency and productivity.
Cooperation agreement on the joint center on genome stability between Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) to establish advanced cutting-edge research in DNA damage response defects, genome stability and therapeutic applications. The two sides will also develop co-supervised PhD programmes, to strengthen capacity building.

It is Minister Bruins second visit to Bengaluru following his earlier one in May 2018. Calling Bengaluru, Brainport of India, Mr. Bruins shared his excitement on the visit saying “The State of Karnataka is an important partner for the Netherlands regarding health. It is impressive to see how the Bangalore biotech cluster is helping to drive new scientific breakthroughs and innovations. Not only on antimicrobial resistance but also on digital health, medical devices and diagnostics. I see a lot of opportunities for and positive energy between Dutch and Indian companies and knowledge institutes to work together on affordable and accessible healthcare for all. A challenge not only in the Netherlands but also in India. Building up a healthcare infrastructure for everyone is a hard nut to crack. At the same time there are unique opportunities by using new data-technology, ICT and e-health. Working together on our mutual challenges will help us both to improve the national and global health”. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gert Heijkoop, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bengaluru, said, “The State of Karnataka is a valuable partner for the Netherlands, especially in the fields of healthcare and agriculture. This visit will go a long way in taking our existing cooperation in these fields to a higher level. Four MoUs were signed today in the field of healthcare, which shows the growing interest to cooperate with the innovation ecosystem in Bengaluru. Other relevant MoUs that were already signed during the Tech Summit in Delhi include one between bio-agri startup incubator in Bengaluru, Centre for Cellular & Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) and the Dutch agri-food startup incubator in Wageningen, StartLife. This will help connect startup ecosystems between the two countries.”