Hyderabad,  A high-level delegation from Columbia headed by its Health and Social Protection Minister, Fernando Ruiz Gomez visited Hyderabad on Wednesday to witness first-hand the life sciences initiatives and clusters like Genome Valley of Telangana.

Vice Minister of Knowledge, Innovation, and Productivity, Sergio Cristancho and Columbia's Ambassador to India Mariana Pacheco were also part of the delegation which consisted of 34 members representing various ministries, academia and private sector.

The objective of this mission was to know and learn about the ecosystem around the production of medicines and vaccines in Hyderabad, and thus replicate the same through new regulations, joint ventures and the signing of B2B, G2B and G2G, to promote manufacturing and serve the local market and the Latin America and Caribbean region from Colombia.

The delegation met state Information Technology Minister, K.T. Rama Rao, wherein they expressed their appreciation for the phenomenal work carried out by the state government to promote life sciences sector.

"We are delighted to host the esteemed delegation in Hyderabad - the Life Sciences capital of India. It is a matter of pride for us that leaders from Colombia are keen to study the life sciences ecosystem of Telangana to create a similar infrastructure in their country, and this is indeed a big global recognition for the efforts of state government in creating a robust life sciences ecosystem," Rama Rao said.

Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Jayesh Ranjan and Director, Life Sciences & Pharma, and CEO, Hyderabad Pharma City Ltd Shakthi Nagappan, also participated in the meeting.

Pacheco thanked Telangana government for welcoming them with open arms and generosity. "We are very impressed with the development of the cluster for biomedical research, for the extraordinary pharma and vaccine manufacturing and for the promotion of training of key personnel for the ecosystem to continue growing. Our admiration for your generosity for the good of India and humanity," she said.

The delegation also visited the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular And Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) and the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) to learn about the ongoing research, industry academia institution, and scientific infrastructure present at the institute.

At the Genome Valley, they witnessed the eminence of India's first clean R&D and manufacturing sector. The delegation also visited IKP knowledge park and MN park to witness the R&D facilities of various companies.