Government to Foster 1.2 Trillion Won Marine Bio Industry Market by 2027

Minister Cho Seung-hwan of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is announcing the 'New Growth Strategy for the Marine Bio Industry' at the Sejong Government Complex.

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The government plans to expand the marine bio market size to 1.2 trillion KRW by 2027 and increase employment in the marine bio sector to 13,000 jobs.

On the 28th, Cho Seung-hwan, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, announced the "New Growth Strategy for the Marine Bio Industry" at the National Policy Coordination Meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. The marine bio industry is an industry that develops bio-materials from marine organisms to produce high value-added products in various fields such as food, energy, industrial materials, and medical care.

The global marine bio market is rapidly growing and is expected to expand to 11 trillion KRW by 2027, which is 1.6 times the current size. However, Korea’s infrastructure, workforce, investment, and technology levels are significantly insufficient. Accordingly, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to support the expansion of the market size and employment scale of the marine bio industry through the new growth strategy so that the marine bio industry can establish itself as a new national growth engine.

To develop core technologies in the marine bio industry, the Ministry will analyze over 4,000 marine resources to secure basic materials such as anticancer agents and begin domestic development of key materials like collagen. Through this, they aim to raise the domestic production rate of marine bio materials, which currently stands at only 30%.

Additionally, research based on genome analysis and synthetic biology will be expanded, and a bio foundry will be established jointly with companies to promote commercialization. A bio foundry refers to a system that standardizes, automates, and accelerates all processes of synthetic biology. The Ministry will also create regional industrial clusters linked to local economic revitalization to build a virtuous industrial ecosystem for marine bio.

Alongside this, investment in research and development (R&D) in the marine bio field will be increased from the current 63 billion KRW to about 100 billion KRW by 2027, and a government-private joint fund will be established. The marine bio bank will be expanded, and a marine bio data center will also be built. The Marine Biological Resources Center, operating the marine bio bank since 2018, plays a role in discovering and providing useful materials for industrialization to companies, institutions, and universities facing difficulties in securing marine bio materials.

Furthermore, considering the shortage of dedicated research vessels and insufficient resource surveys in some coastal and oceanic areas, the Ministry will promote the construction of dedicated vessels and develop and operate a shared research vessel system. To support corporate activities, the Ministry will immediately form a marine bio regulatory task force (TF) to identify and revise related regulations across all stages of the industry. To address the shortage of specialized personnel, a human resource development center dedicated to related education will also be established.

Minister Cho said, "Based on this plan, we will spare no effort in developing policies and support to nurture related industries so that the marine bio industry can establish itself as a new national growth engine."

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