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Long in the making: Policy insights from the Thai bioeconomy sector
Authored by Giovanni Tagliani
5 March 2024
UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) Policy Brief No.29
Author:
- Giovanni Tagliani | PhD candiate | UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Abstract:
Low- and middle-income countries are increasingly turning to the bioeconomy as a pathway for development. This policy brief presents the case of bioproduction targeting in Thailand, it shows the policy origins and how policy evolution has adapted along innovation phase and technological sophistication. Its goal is to identify which policies have been successful in achieving the current level of bioeconomy sector development and which reform steps are needed to pursue higher value-added bioproductions, such as biopharmaceuticals.
Highlights:
- While the presence of natural resource endowments and a developed agricultural sector serve as prerequisites, the implementation of innovation and market-shaping industrial policy is essential to achieve value addition in bioproductions.
- The current development of the Thai bioeconomy sector has its origins in the innovation initiatives implemented in the early 2000s by the Thai National Innovation Agency (NIA) in collaboration with a few major private and public sector actors.
- The 2017 Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Strategy marks the mainstreaming, rather than the establishment, of bioproductions as targets for industrial policy in Thailand.
- Value addition in bioproductions has been achieved not just through the BCG Strategy, but through a 20-year constant adaption of policy to the innovation phase and to different levels of technological sophistication, from biofuels to bioplastics, leaving a valuable policy legacy.
- Regulatory, governance and market-shaping reforms are needed for the development of the biotech industry in higher value-added productions, such as biopharmaceuticals.
Reference:
This brief can be referenced as follows: Tagliani, G. (2024). Long in the making: Policy insights from the Thai bioeconomy sector. Policy Brief. UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Policy Brief No.29. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/publications/2024/mar/29/policy-insights-thai-bioeconomy-sector