Mary Harney has agreed to speak at Cordia because of the "importance of the biotechnology industry to the whole of Europe in creating wealth, employment and innovation"
The Irish deputy prime minister and the incoming president of the EU Competitiveness Council from next January, Mary Harney, has agreed to speak at the opening plenary session of Cordia - EuropaBio Convention 2003, on 2 December, in Vienna, Austria. Mary Harney is a highly respected and admired politician and is the first woman in Ireland to have led her party in an election campaign and into negotiations to form a government.
As first woman deputy prime minister and minister for enterprise, trade and employment she has made important contributions to Ireland's recent boom in the biotech industry.
Considering the fact that the industry started developing only recently in Ireland, it is already a huge success story with well over 30 new companies created, nine out of the ten leading pharma companies located within the country and a euro 2.5bn programme of Irish government support between 2000 and 2006 for research, development and innovation.
Based on a tradition of scientific excellence and entrepreneurship the country also attracts strong EU funding and has been very successful in attracting inward investment for biopharmaceutical manufacturing with recent major investments by Wyeth, Genzyme and Genemedix.
Mary Harney has agreed to speak at Cordia because of the "importance of the biotechnology industry to the whole of Europe in creating wealth, employment and innovation".
The keynote speakers will put Europe's assets under the microscope from a political, scientific, social and industrial perspective, and will present a framework for improving the global competitiveness of the European biotechnology community and for meeting society's needs more effectively.
Cordia will take place from 2-4 December 2003 in Vienna, Austria.
