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In Brief

Nature Biotechnology volume 20, pages 421–423 (2002)Cite this article

Chirac signs up to boost biotech

On April 11, two weeks before the French presidential elections, President Jacques Chirac has promised widespread support for high technology in France, and for biotechnology in particular. Canvassed by the industry lobby group France Biotech (Paris) through a nine-point questionnaire, Chirac has promised to substantially increase public spending on research in order to attract researchers from outside France and to improve equipment. He has also promised to reduce the tax burden on innovative companies, at least to the levels found in nations that are “attractive” for biotechnology, such as the UK and Germany. Saying that “the time for half measures was past,” Chirac proposed that the government would encourage further investment in biotechnology by establishing an enterprise fund that would match monies already committed to biotech enterprises by private venture investors with long-term loan capital, repayable when companies succeeded. France Biotech has sent the same questionnaire to Chirac's rival for the presidency, Lionel Jospin. JH

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In Brief. Nat Biotechnol 20, 421–423 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0502-421

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