St. Louis Arch could be known as ‘Gateway to the East’
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
April 29, 2010
by Steve Birmingham
A delegation of Chinese biotech business people and investors signed a memorandum of understanding April 29 pledging cooperation between them and St. Louis area biotech businesses.
The delegation, made up of representatives of about 40 biotech firms and investors, are visiting several U.S. biotech centers under the auspices of the China Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA).
The memorandums were signed between several Chinese biotech firms with CORTEX (Center of Research, Technology & Entrepreneurial Exchange), a non-profit organization that buys and develops real estate to attract biotech start-up companies to mid-town St. Louis; the Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center, near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, which helps life sciences and clean-tech companies bridge research, resources and relationships to achieve commercial success; and the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA).
Just before the signings, RCGA President and CEO Dick Fleming said the St. Louis Arch, known as the "Gateway to the West," could now be referred to as the "Gateway to the East."
"I think this is one more manifestation of "The Big Idea" moving forward and showcasing and positioning greater St. Louis as the mid-Western hub for China," Fleming said. "We're focusing on here to compliment the progress that's being made with the air cargo hub for the Chinese airlines that recently agreed to be part of the effort from the mayor's (Francis Slay) delegation a couple of weeks ago."
"This piece of it is the commercial business to business economic development dimension, and what we have here is 40 Chinese biotech companies and investors in biotechnology who have chosen to visit St. Louis," Fleming said "They see St. Louis and the St. Louis bio-belt as an opportunity for Chinese companies locating, in many cases, their first U.S. location, in this market."
Thursday's signings of the memorandums mirror ones that were recently concluded in China during a trip with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and other local leaders.
That recent China mission concluded agreements with four Chinese airlines to join in the feasibility analysis that Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and the technical consultant team for the Midwest China Hub Commission have underway for establishing the cargo hub, a concept called "The Big Idea."
The RCGA, in cooperation with the Midwest Chine Hub Commission, is hosting the CIPA delegation through Saturday afternoon. Besides St. Louis, the delegation will visit San Francisco and the Research Triangle in North Carolina in advance of the annual international BIO meeting to be held later this year in Chicago.
This week's CIPA delegation visit follows another recent Chinese business-to-business visit several weeks ago from Weihai, China by their largest medical device manufacturers and also hosted by the RCGA following the return of Slay's delegation from China in late March.
Dr. Jun Ren, president of Shanghai Newsummit Biopharma Group and a signatory to the memorandums, said the CIPA delegation was especially pleased to learn about the various biotech and pharmaceutical firms in the region, as well as its research components of the area's universities.
"I think it's really instructive for us and St. Louis and a really good opportunity," Jun Ren, said. "We found that St. Louis is a really, really good area where we can develop our businesses."
While in St. Louis, the CIPA delegation will meet with regional plant and life sciences leaders, as well as State and local elected leaders. The delegation will also tour the region's plant and life sciences institutions including Washington University, the St. Louis Coalition for Plant & Life Sciences, the BioGenerator, the Missouri Botanical Garden, CORTEX, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, BRDG Park and the Center for Emerging Technologies.
The delegation also attended Thursday's St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Atlanta Braves game at Busch Stadium, and will tour the Gateway Arch before departing St. Louis Saturday.
