ZICHRON YA¿AKOV, Israel ¿ The Israel Biotechnology Organi zation (IBO) and the California Governor¿s Com mission on Bioscience signed a memorandum of Under stand ing (MOU) to foster cooperation between the regions.

¿The intention of this agreement is to facilitate ties among private industry, governmental organizations and academic institutions from both regions and to encourage alliances for mutual benefits to broaden their impact for a faster and more substantive linkage through mutual program development between Israel and California,¿ said Zachi Berger, chairman of the IBO.

The agreement establishes a formal relationship between the IBO and the Commission on Bioscience in order to foster technology, business development and educational opportunities through business interaction in the public and private sectors.

Citing from the MOU, both parties agreed:

¿ To promote the exchange of ideas between businesses, industry associations, business agencies and commercial institutions as well as visits of company representatives, engineers, scientists and other specialists;

¿ To match areas of mutual interest such as biotechnology, bioinformatics and bio-agriculture so that informational exchanges can lead to increased commercial and research linkages and

¿ To promote and strengthen cooperation between the scientific communities and research centers.

¿We have been discussing how to continue to implement the content and intent of this agreement,¿ said Sherwin B. Pomerantz, Israel director of the California Trade & Commerce Agency, who is former national president of the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel.