Government of Canada Takes Action to Boost Investment and Collaboration With European Partners

SAINT-HYACINTHE, QUEBEC--(Marketwire) - The Government of Canada is moving forward on its commitment to promote Canadian agricultural research, collaboration and investment between Canada and its European counterparts. Today, the Honourable Christian Paradis, Secretary of State for Agriculture, on behalf of the Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, visited Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) Food Research and Development Centre (FRDC) in Saint-Hyacinthe to discuss opportunities for investment and science and innovation collaboration between Canada and Spain.

"The Government of Canada is proud of the world class agricultural and agrifood research being conducted in our labs," said Secretary of State Paradis. "That is why we are working to strengthen our scientific partnerships with industry and government, to improve science and technology exchanges, promote investment and raise Canada's influence on a global scale."

During the Forum of the Americas in October 2007, a delegation of Spanish food production and processing industry entrepreneurs and researchers from the l'Instituto Tecnologico Agrario de Castilla y Leon (ITACyL) visited Saint-Hyacinthe to discuss investment and collaboration opportunities between the two countries. The meeting was a follow-up to the Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific and Technical cooperation, drafted in May 2007, between AAFC and ITACyL.

During his visit to Saint-Hyacinthe, the Secretary of State also took the opportunity to tour the FRDC and see the AAFC's scientists in action. Established in 1987, the FRDC was the first AAFC research centre dedicated entirely to food processing.

AAFC research teams in Saint-Hyacinthe and across Canada collaborate to increase knowledge of food systems and foster innovation and growth of the Canadian food industry.