[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is launching a public contest for local governments to participate in the ‘Forest Bio Innovation Growth Hub Development Project.’
The contest will be conducted through official document submissions until the 29th of this month. After the submission deadline, the Korea Forest Service plans to select and announce the project operators next month following document and presentation evaluations.
The selected local governments will receive 13 billion KRW in support over three years starting next year. Additionally, with 7 billion KRW in local government funds, they will establish Forest Bio Business Centers, Seed Supply and Nursery Technology Centers, production complexes, and more.
Once four Forest Bio Innovation Growth Hubs are completed nationwide by region, the Korea Forest Service will support contract cultivation of bio raw materials between bio companies and forest households, as well as conduct projects to support technology development and commercialization.
This is the third contest of its kind. Previously, the Korea Forest Service selected Okcheon, Chungbuk (project period 2019?2021) as the first site and Naju, Jeonnam (project period 2020?2022) as the second site for the Forest Bio Innovation Growth Hub Project.
Park Jong-ho, Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, stated, “With the enforcement of the Nagoya Protocol, the burden of royalties when using overseas biological resources is increasing. To respond to this, it is necessary to sufficiently supply bio raw materials from our forests.”
He added, “We will create a structure where the private sector, local governments, and the Korea Forest Service can collaborate so that the bioindustry and forest industry can coexist by utilizing forest biological resources.”
Meanwhile, the domestic bioindustry currently imports more than 67% of forest bio raw materials (natural substances) needed to produce pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and functional foods from overseas.
In response, the Korea Forest Service is establishing a regional foundation to enable forest households to stably supply raw materials according to the demand for natural substances in the bioindustry.
The development of Forest Bio Innovation Growth Hubs focuses on understanding the demand of the bioindustry and establishing a supply system for raw materials using domestic forest resources to create high added value in the forest bio sector.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
