Thailand’s Competitive Advantage in Bioeconomy
Fundamental concept of bioeconomy is the value creation of resources. As Thailand is blessed with robust agricultural activities, rich natural resources, and diversity in term of both biological resources and physical geography, the country is in an excellent position to take on bioeconomy.
Thailand is among top producers and exporters of several agricultural commodities and aquacultures such as rice, cassava, sugarcane, para rubber and shrimp. Some of these crops are of significant importance to both food and energy security. In addition to strong biomass production sector, food industry and other related industry in the value chain also represent a large industrial sector in Thailand. The food industry contributed approximately 23% of the country’s GDP and the value of Thailand’s food industry, including local consumption and exports, is expected to reach USD102 billion in 2017.
Thailand is situated in "Indo-Burma" – a biodiversity hotspot that is ranked as the eighth most bio-diverse region in the world. Hosting several forest types and aquatic habitats, Thailand is estimated to support about 10% of all species of living organisms in the world. Significant investment has been made to support biodiversity research and establish world-class infrastructure for preserving microorganisms with the purpose of utilization study, making the country No. 6 in the world in term of microbial collection.