The state of Maryland in the US is keen on promoting joint ventures and alliances with the knowledge-intensive sectors in India.
"After a great success in IT, biotech is the emerging sector in India and is expected to be bigger than IT. A number of biotech and pharma companies are doing well and expanding their markets worldwide," deputy secretary, business and economic development to the State of Maryland, US, Chris Foster said at a meeting in Chennai.
With 300 bio-science companies here, Maryland is the second largest state for Federal R&D expenditure which is at about $9.3 billion.
"Our research capability and India's knowledge can be a good combination to be globally competitive in the area of knowledge-intensive sectors," he added.
India has been successful in IT outsourcing. But it should not be branded as outsourcing hub. Since the country is transforming into a knowledge economy, it should brand itself as the "source for proprietary knowledge," he added.
Foster is on a visit to India to create a government-to-government corridor in the area of knowledge economy. A forum, Maryland India Business Round Table, has been set up to explore and facilitate strategic alliances and collaborative opportunities between India and the State of Maryland.
As part of this, an MoU between IIT-Chennai and John Hopkins University of Maryland was signed for faculty exchange and joint research activities.