CHEMICAL companies from across the North-East were at Sunderland's Stadium of Light yesterday for the launch of the Pharmaceutical and Speciality Chemicals Cluster (PSCC).
Based at technology transfer company RTC North, the cluster is the first organisation of its type in the UK and was set up to represent and promote an industry that contributes over £4.5bn to the UK's gross domestic product.
Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, was among the first to welcome the development.
He tabled an Early Day Motion, signed by a number of North-East MPs, welcoming the formation of the new PSCC.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Kumar said: "The House welcomes and congratulates the launch of the P&S Cluster and notes the outstanding achievement of the North-East Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast, in bringing together such major companies as Pfizer, Rhodia Pharma Solutions and Merk Sharpe and Dhome, to form the first cluster group of this type in the UK.
"We also recognise the crucial contribution these world-class companies make in terms of inward investment, improving access to cutting-edge research and knowledge-building in areas relating to healthcare and manufacturing."
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