Essential News

• David H. Murdock, CEO and chairman of Castle andamp; Cooke and Dole Foods, and President Luis Guillermo Solis announced the formation of an international agreement for research and education collaboration.

Kannapolis May 14, 2015. Costa Rica and the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) are signing an education cooperation agreement that will allow training opportunities for Costa Rican scientists at the NCRC.

The signing of this agreement is part of one of the objectives of the investment promotion tour headed by President Luis Guillermo Solis, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora and the Managing Director of CINDE, Jorge Sequeira.

The agreement will allow research internships and exchange programs of students and scientists in order to develop joint research projects and new curricula.

The NCRC is a US public-private organization dedicated to scientific research in the fields of agriculture, human health, and nutrition. NCRC Scientists will be working with Costa Rican scientists and students to advance research in food science.

The agreement will involve institutions such as NC State Plants for Human Health Institute, NC A andamp; T State University Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies, Dole Nutrition Research Institute and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College along with the National Center for Food Science and Technology of Costa Rica, EARTH University, Dole Costa Rica, the University of Costa Rica and its School of Bioengineering, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Center for Crops Research at the University of Costa Rica and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The President, Luis Guillermo Solis, said that the alliance will benefit several state universities. "The agreement we signed with this organization will serve to transmit scientific knowledge to several Costa Rican universities like the University of Costa Rica and the Technological of Costa Rica, in the fields of human health, bioengineering, agricultural and foods. Our students will have access to scientific training in this prestigious university that will allow us to be more competitive and to have the continuous updating and innovation required by the Costa Rican human talent."

"I am passionate about helping people to live longer and healthier lives," said Mr. Murdock. "This collaboration reflects the purpose of the NCRC. We are bringing together the best scientists and most promising students on the campus of the North Carolina Research with those of Costa Rica to bring new ideas and new technologies forward that will make the world healthier.”

The Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora said: "this first result of the promotional tour in the United States is very encouraging. The announced agreement will allow us to enhance and expand the links between the government, academia and industry, opening up opportunities for the transfer of knowledge that, in the future, will contribute to raising the country's development. This campus is an example of good practices in areas such as the production of healthy foods and aggregation of value, from which we have much to learn and is a cornerstone in building the agenda of joint work between the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, in order to support public policies and programs to integrate companies in the agricultural and agro-industrial sector, to foreign trade. My colleague the Minister of Agriculture Luis Felipe Arauz, expressly asked us to facilitate and accelerate this instrument due to the enormous potential for the purposes of MAG and for the alliance with Comex, academia and the private productive sector in terms of raising productivity and value of our agricultural production ".

Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director of CINDE said, "CINDE has promoted various educational partnerships with universities and US studies through the years, that have managed to establish new academic and technical fields in Costa Rica. Continuous improvement of the Costa Rican talent allows us to remain competitive and that's why we run these meetings with academic and research institutions within the framework of the investment promotion tour of Costa Rica."

The Costa Rican delegation will continue its tour through the United States until May 23rd. Over the next days they will visit other cities such as Austin, Atlanta and Chicago, where they also will meet with other universities seeking cooperation agreements.

Over the next year, universities and institutions involved in the Costa-Rica-NCRC agreement will work on formalizing the agreement and will launch the first exchange programs.

About the North Carolina Research

NC Research Campus is home to the corporate, academic and health partners, focused in achieving scientific advance for the benefit of human health, agriculture and nutrition, all located in 350 acres of its campus in Kannapolis, NC, just north of Charlotte, with over one million square feet of laboratory and office space. For more information, visit www.ncresearchcampus.net