AID grant no. PDC-2029-G-SS-7139-00 to Resources Development Foundation to support the development costs of a business plan for a venture capital fund specializing in the life sciences and targeting the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka

The Asian Fund will be a $15 million offshore investment pool for funding sophisticated, commercial biotechnology projects offering potential returns of at least 40% a year. RDF will: (1) analyze the climate for life science investment in each of the four countries, and compare these climates; (2) identify possible projects and assess each with respect to its uniqueness, management requirements, financial projections, and the proposed mode of the Fund"s eventual exit from that project; and (3) identify 12 specific technologies which are potentially profitable and available for transfer to developing countries. The following seven opportunities are likely to be good examples of projects in which the Fund will invest: wastewater biotreatment, molecular-based plant improvement devices, instrument and reagent service, a micropropagation facility for planting stock, and biotechnology applications in milk production, integrated shrimp aquaculture, and organic phosphate fertilizers. The grant is reimbursable and will be matched by combined contributions from Montsanto Corporation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (of which RDF is a nonprofit subsidiary).