July 23, 2015 -  Montreal - The Canada Eurasia Russia Business Association (CERBA) organized its third Innovation Conference, on July 23 in Montréal, bringing together over 60 people from the Canadian and Eurasian business community, government, and academia.  The conference, with a special focus on industrial biotechnology aimed to identify joint business opportunities and collaboration in the innovation and R&D process. 'The conference proved very useful and introduced us to important actors in the Canadian biotech and innovation sector', expressed Alexey Ablaev, CEO of the Russian Biofuel Association.

The CEO of BioteCanada, Andrew Casey, presented the main strengths and challenges of the Canadian biotech industry, outlining common avenues of collaboration and common threats, such as the difficulty of attracting investments for technology development: 'Investors are like tourists, they will always go where they feel most comfortable and welcome, and competition is sharp', underlined Mr. Casey. 

Barbara Béliveau, Director of International Partnerships at the Québec Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Exports, outlined the provincial government model to support innovation through various programs and tax incentives, making Quebec one of the most attractive places in the world to for R&D intensive companies. 

The CEO of the Montreal based company Bioastra, Sumitra Rajagopalan, explained the high potential of open innovation concept and collaborative technology development, specifically with Russia, since she has already worked with their scientists, recognizing the high level of research in that country. 

'CERBA is planning to hold the Canada-Eurasia Innovation Conference again next year for a fourth edition, as we have evidence here that there is real interest and potential in further developing business and scientific relations between Canada, Russia and Kazakhstan. CERBA is strongly committed to bridging our two regions and creating opportunities in the high tech sector', expressed Sébastien Dakin, Director of the Montréal and Ottawa Chapters of CERBA.  

See detailed program and information about the event at: http://www.cerbainnovation.com