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| ▲ This file photo, provided by South Korea's southwestern county of Wando on Dec. 13, 2021, shows an envisioned marine biology research institute in the region. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
S Korea-marine biology
S. Korea to increase investment in marine biology industry
SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea vowed Thursday to boost investment in the marine biology sector to nurture the high-value field as a future growth engine and to create jobs.
The marine biology industry uses marine organisms to develop bio materials for value-added products in such fields as the food, energy and health care sectors.
"We will extend all-out support to make the marine biology industry a new future growth engine," Oceans and Fisheries Minister Cho Seung-hwan said.
The global market of the sector is expected to nearly double over the next five years, with major nations pushing to expand investments, but South Korea has lagged behind in terms of infrastructure, investment and technology, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
Under the blueprint, the government vowed to earmark some 100 billion won (US$76.71 million) per year by 2027 for research and development in the sector from the current level of 63 billion won.
It also plans to create major industry clusters and set up a data center to provide relevant information to companies, institutions and colleges.
The government will ease related regulations and push to build vessels to support field research, according to the ministry.
The focus will be on the development of key technologies.
The ministry vowed to analyze some 4,000 kinds of marine lives and to develop major materials, such as collagen, on its own. Currently, the proportion of the country's homegrown marine bio materials comes to around 30 percent of the total.
By doing so, the country seeks to increase the country's marine biology market to 1.2 trillion won by 2027 and to create 13,000 new jobs.
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