Fostering the Marine Bio Material Industry... Expanding Market Size to 1.2 Trillion Won

Government Announces Strategy to Secure Global Market Leadership

Regional Specialized Hub Configuration (Draft).

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The government is fostering the marine bio-material industry, including intermediate raw materials such as chitosan, omega-3, and marine collagen, to revitalize the food and medical industries. Through mass production and commercialization support, the domestic marine bio market size will be expanded to approximately 1.2 trillion KRW by 2030.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the "Global Marine Bio Market Leadership Strategy" at the Government Complex Sejong during the National Policy Coordination Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

Marine bio refers to the field that produces products and services using materials developed from marine organisms. It is used as materials in special fields such as medical applications, thus having high added value. For example, when seaweed priced at 4,000 KRW per kilogram is processed into alginate, a health supplement, the price rises to 1 million KRW per kilogram. Approximately 1.51 million tons of fish skins, oyster shells, and other fishery by-products generated annually can be transformed from environmental pollutants into bio-materials. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, citing MarketLine data, forecasts that the global marine bio market will grow at an average annual rate of 7.4% due to increased demand after the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 643.3 billion USD by 2024.

The ministry considers expanding publicly available information crucial for mass production of marine bio resources and plans to support industrialization by providing key efficacy information on 3,000 marine organisms, including those with anticancer properties. Subsequently, demonstration testing sites and production facilities will also be established.

Additionally, to utilize fishery products that are already consumed but not registered as food raw materials, the ministry will promote registration in the food raw materials database and revise regulations such as improving heavy metal standards for edible resources.

Alongside this, up to 1 billion KRW in commercialization technology development funds will be provided, and specialized marine bio hubs will be created in the East, West, and South Sea regions to support marine bio companies with consulting, material supply, and convergence technology development.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.