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GASC was formed to stimulate business, economic growth, and research partnerships involving companies and academic institutions in South Carolina, Israel, Estonia, and other states where similar collaboration opportunities exist as an independent way to generate economic development, jobs, and university joint programs.

In 2013, the state of South Carolina and the state of Israel entered into a formal agreement on “Bilateral Cooperation in Industrial Research and Development.” Under this overarching agreement, research and business relationships have been forged, sustained and expanded through annual week-long visits by South Carolina delegations to Israel and other ad-hoc events convened in both South Carolina and Israel.

In April 2016 the South Carolina Department of Commerce executed a similarly constructed agreement with Estonia on “Bilateral Cooperation in Industrial and Technological Research and Development.”  This agreement builds upon longstanding relationships between the Harry and Reba Huge Foundation, the College of Charleston and, more recently, The Citadel and counterpart organizations in Estonia.

In March 2017, the South Carolina Department of Commerce approved combining responsibilities for the “cooperating authority” on the South Carolina side of both the South Carolina-Israel and the South Carolina-Estonia bilateral agreements, and delegating them to the same entity – the Global Alliance for South Carolina (GASC).  GASC was established in September 2016 as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization.  GASC will:

1. Address all the requirements assigned to the State of South Carolina delineated in the two bilateral agreements;
2. Provide a mechanism for sustaining execution accountability on behalf of the South Carolina Department of Commerce; and
3. Be structured to accommodate future enterprise growth (e.g., more exchange opportunities, more bilateral industry R&D projects, new tri-lateral R&D projects, etc.).