The expert told how the world bioeconomy is developing and at what stage Belarus is in this system

How the world bioeconomy is developing and at what stage of development our country is in this industry. About this correspondent sb.by told the head of the sector of environmental and economic research of the Institute of Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Nadezhda Batova.

She noted:

- The global bioeconomy has entered the phase of industrialization. The focus is not only on research and individual environmental initiatives, but also on the scaling of bioproductions, the formation of sales markets, sustainability standards, intellectual property protection and training. According to FAO’s current panel, national bioeconomy strategies have been developed in 22 countries and 17 are in the process of preparing them. In addition, strategies have been formed at the level of three regional associations - the EU, the East African Community and the Nordic countries. This shows that the bioeconomy is becoming an independent direction of economic and industrial policy, although its institutionalization in the world is still ongoing. Global estimates of the sector’s value vary, with some methods accounting only for biomass production and processing, while others include medicine, services and digital platforms. Therefore, it is more correct to compare not advertising forecasts, but real value chains and industrial policy tools.

In November 2025, the European Commission presented a new strategic framework for a competitive and sustainable bioeconomy. In 2023, activities related to the production and processing of biomass provided 17.1 million jobs and 863 billion euros of value added in the EU – about 5% of GDP. The document defines four main areas: industrial scaling of innovations, formation of leading markets for bioproducts, sustainable provision of biomass and use of international opportunities.

- The transition from supporting individual technologies to forming a market for new products is especially important. Promising areas include bioplastics and packaging materials from biofibers, textiles from bioraw materials, biochemicals, biomaterials for construction, biofertilizers and biological plant protection products. To create sustainable demand, the launch of a voluntary alliance Bio-based Europe is planned. It is expected that its participants will make a collective commitment to purchase biomaterials and biobased products with a total value of 10 billion euros by 2030. This is a planned market commitment of a business, not EU budget funding or the amount of contracts already concluded. The strategy focuses on two critical phases of commercialization. The first is related to the transition from a pilot plant to the first industrial production. At this stage, the technology must confirm not only efficiency, but also economic efficiency. The second comes after the product enters the market, when it is necessary to increase production volumes, reduce cost and ensure sustainable demand. It is at these stages that promising developments most often face a shortage of investments. Therefore, the EU supports not only research, but also demonstration capacities, standardization, regulatory mechanisms, public procurement and long-term contracts for the purchase of bioproducts.

In Russia, in 2026, the national project “Technological support for bioeconomy” is being implemented, uniting three blocks: production organization and sales promotion, scientific and technological support, as well as analytical, methodological and personnel support. By 2030, it is planned to increase the output of bioeconomy products by 96%, increase the share of domestic biotechnological products to 55%, and the level of technological independence in critical areas to 40%. China sees biotechnology not as a separate scientific field, but as a source of industrial growth. Its model relies on large production sites, specialized industrial parks, digitalization of bioprocesses and a focus on global markets.

- The new plan for the development of the pharmaceutical industry for 2026-2030 is indicative. By the end of this period, at least 25 percent of first-in-class medicines on the global market must be of Chinese origin. It is the biomedical sector, not the entire bioeconomy, but the document reflects China’s overall course of moving from raw materials and traditional substances to its own high-value-added technologies and products. No less indicative is the expansion of biotechnology beyond medicine and agriculture. Shougang Metallurgical Group together with LanzaTech has mastered industrial gas fermentation (as part of the joint venture Beijing Shougang LanzaTech). Metallurgical carbon-containing gases, primarily carbon monoxide, are sent to bioreactors where Clostridium autoethanogenum bacteria convert them into ethanol. The resulting microbial biomass is used to produce single-cell feed protein, officially approved in China as feedstock. It can partially replace fishmeal and soy protein, reducing the country's dependence on imported feed components. Thus, the side flow of heavy industry becomes a raw material for two markets at once - biofuels and feed products, the expert said.

Our country is between the stage of mature industry decisions and the creation of a single industrial system. Strengths are developed agro-industrial, forestry, food and pharmaceutical complexes, own scientific schools, engineering culture and relatively short links between researchers and enterprises. Biotechnologies are already used in production, although not all such solutions are called bioeconomy.

- The next step is not to create a new sector from scratch, but to combine existing competencies: raw materials - laboratory - pilot plant - industrial production - guaranteed market. Specialization is especially important for a small open economy. Belarus is not obliged to produce the full range of bioproducts, but can take strong positions in certain segments: agrobiotechnology, fermentation products, functional ingredients, forest chemistry, biopharma and materials from flax and wood, added Nadezhda Batova.