Ministry of Agriculture Eyes Green Bio Industry Market to Reach 10 Trillion Won by 2031

At 'CJ Blossom Park' in Suwon
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Announces First Basic Plan for Fostering the Green Bio Industry

The government has announced plans to grow the green bio industry market—including functional foods, cosmetics, and insects—to a size of 10 trillion won by 2031. To achieve this, the government will upgrade specialized clusters centered on seven designated green bio industry zones nationwide and provide comprehensive, end-to-end support packages to help promising ventures and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with limited capital scale up into global leaders.

On July 20, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the "1st Basic Plan for Fostering the Green Bio Industry (2027–2031)" at 'CJ Blossom Park' in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, which is the nation’s hub for advanced green bio research. The green bio industry is defined as an industry that applies biotechnology to the agriculture and food sectors to develop and produce high-performance, high-value-added products such as functional foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, new breed seeds, and new materials.

Kim Joungu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, announced the "1st Basic Plan for Fostering the Green Bio Industry (2027–2031)" on the 20th at 'CJ Blossom Park' in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, the center of advanced green bio research. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Kim Jonggu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, who presided over the event, toured advanced facilities such as the microbial biofoundry with leading companies in the six key fields—seeds, microorganisms, insects, natural materials, food ingredients, and veterinary medicines—together with representatives from local governments and related organizations. He outlined four key growth strategies (R·I·S·E) to achieve three goals by 2031: expanding the market to 10 trillion won, nurturing 300 leading companies each generating over 10 billion won in annual sales, and attaining 90% of the global technology level. This plan represents the first medium- to long-term statutory plan to foster the green bio industry as a national growth engine by developing high value-added products in the agriculture and food sectors through the convergence of advanced biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI).

First, the government seeks to advance specialized clusters centered on seven green bio industry development zones nationwide—Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam—and to promote mutually beneficial business models in which farmers and companies coexist. Six sector-specific clusters will be interconnected and concentrated according to regional strengths, such as a microorganism cluster in Jeonbuk (Jeongeup and Sunchang), and animal health/veterinary medicine in Gyeongbuk (Pohang), as well as hemp-based pharmaceutical materials in Andong. To build these clusters, public infrastructure will be greatly expanded across the entire R&D-to-commercialization pipeline, including seven venture campuses for start-up incubation and acceleration, two advanced analysis platforms for discovering useful candidate substances, and four industrialization facilities enabling material standardization and mass production.

In addition, the government will expand contract farming between businesses and farms to ensure a stable mass supply of regionally specialized raw materials. Notable examples include 'Centella asiatica' from Namwon in Jeonbuk, used as a cosmetics ingredient, and 'Heukhharang Lettuce' from Hampyeong in Jeonnam, which has sleep and calming effects. Contract farming will allow companies to secure steady raw material supplies while providing farmers with new sources of income, thus spreading a regional, mutually beneficial industrial model.

To help promising ventures and SMEs with limited capital become global leaders, comprehensive end-to-end support for commercialization throughout the entire business lifecycle will be provided as a package. Support for commercialization, equity investment, securing sales channels, and export opportunities will be expanded so that high-potential companies can grow without facing obstacles such as lack of funding or facilities. To this end, the size of the Green Bio Fund, based on the government’s umbrella fund, will be increased by 100 billion won over five years—from 142.9 billion won in 2026 to 242.9 billion won in 2031—and linked with policy financing loans and guarantees. Additionally, through the Green Bio Venture Campus, the government will provide office and equipment space, as well as funding for commercialization at every stage from prototype development to full-scale market launch.

The government will also leverage the growth trends of the K-Food and K-Beauty industries to promote joint R&D and demand-supply matching between cosmetics/food companies and green bio material firms, while supporting global market entry through programs for acquiring overseas certifications, local market consulting, participation in international exhibitions, and buyer meetings.

Efforts will be made to accelerate the establishment of a Green Bio Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) platform and to drive technological innovation. The platform will aggregate and standardize dispersed information and data—such as the properties, genomes, functions, and microbiomes of agricultural biological resources—allowing researchers to search and analyze data in one place via the "Green Bio AX Platform." The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs expects that this will shorten R&D lead times and increase the likelihood of successfully discovering new materials, thereby accelerating technological advancement. The integrated platform will also provide information on relevant policies, industry and technology trends, research updates, and regional infrastructure.

The government will also focus on developing a robust institutional infrastructure to support industrial growth, including workforce training, regulatory reform, and field-centered, statistics-based policymaking. The number of green bio contract department enrollees, which is currently 20 students at a single university, will be expanded to 100 students across five universities by 2031. New curricula responding to market demand will be developed, beginning with natural and food materials, and extending to seeds, microorganisms, bio-feed, digital breeding, and veterinary medicine—nurturing future-oriented talent at the master’s and doctoral level.

Continuous regulatory innovation that is directly felt by companies will be pursued. Online suggestion portals such as "Green Bio Talk" and the Green Bio Industry Development Council will be actively operated to identify on-the-ground issues on an ongoing basis. Regulatory free zones and sandboxes will be utilized to support the market entry of new technologies and products. In addition, the government will establish national approval statistics for the green bio industry based on industry surveys to reinforce policy execution, and strengthen the policy consultation system involving central and local governments, industry, academia, and research organizations.

Vice Minister Kim stated, "The green bio industry is the future engine for adding high value to Korean agriculture and is a driving force behind Korea’s bioeconomy. By successfully implementing this first foundational plan, we will create fertile ground for promising ventures to become global leaders, and establish a regional innovation ecosystem where farmers and businesses can both thrive and build a win-win model together."

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