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This contact is the groundwork for INRA’s international policy. Based on the scientific priorities set out by INRA, the policy provides support to the Scientific Divisions for the implementation of these priorities.
Above all, INRA’s international policy is based on the desire to participate actively in the construction of the European Research Area. INRA is convinced that a research organisation such as itself can only guarantee its future by remaining at the heart of European science, while pursuing its international ambitions. Within Europe, INRA strives to reinforce partnerships with southern Europe to foster the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean agricultural research area and the development of multilateral cooperation with all the countries in the region. To do this, INRA is strengthening relations with CIHEAM (International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies) and ICARDA (International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) by promoting joint initiatives.
Outside the European Union, active cooperation with the major scientific powers (United States, Canada, Japan, Australia) has become essential. It involves the signing of bilateral agreements, which enable the development of joint projects on priority themes. Strengthening cooperation with these countries is a way of securing the influence of French agricultural research among the major scientific powers.
Among the emerging countries with an important agricultural sector, INRA has already signed agreements with China, India and Brazil, and set up joint laboratories with China, India and Japan. Research partnerships have been consolidated with these countries, for instance, through the setting up of permanent joint representations for INRA and CIRAD in China, India and Brazil. These representations are responsible not only for keeping an eye on scientific and agricultural policies but also for furthering our knowledge of these two countries. In addition, INRA maintains regular contact with Argentina, Korea, Taiwan and South Africa and seeks to develop its commitment to scientific cooperation through its Research Centre in the French West Indies and Guiana, and through closer collaboration with CIRAD and IRD.
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See also
