Japan Bioeconomy Strategy
According to a 2019 survey by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan’s bio industry market size is 3.6 trillion yen (US$32 billion) – narrowly defined to include cutting-edge products and services such as gene recombination and biomolecule analysis.
The Government of Japan (GOJ) has formulated a Bioeconomy Strategy to develop and advance the biotechnology sector, with an objective to realize “the world’s most advanced bioeconomy society by 2030,” growing it to 92 trillion yen (US$837 billion), as follows:
- High-performance biomaterials, bioplastics (53.3 trillion yen/US$485 billion)
- Sustainable primary production systems (1.7 trillion yen/US$15.5 billion)
- Large-scale wood-based construction (1 trillion yen/US$9 billion)
- Lifestyle-related healthcare improvement (33 trillion yen/US$300 billion)
- Biopharmacy, regenerative medicine, cell therapy, and gene therapy (3.3 trillion yen/US$30 billion)
Japan’s Bioeconomy Strategy further involves data infrastructure, policy development, and systems maintenance. In 2019, for example, the GOJ funded roughly 6.2 billion yen (US$56 million) to promote bio-manufacturing technologies, including the demonstration and examination of bio-manufacturing data linkages. The GOJ is also emphasizing close collaboration with existing global bio-community hubs to combine leading research environments with established commercialization systems – and expects increased overseas investments and development of social systems that will attract talented human and other resources.
U.S. companies that offer innovative biotechnology goods and services may find new opportunities in Japan, either directly or in partnership with Japanese biotechnology companies. For more information on Japan’s biotechnology sector and trade opportunities, please contact Akiko.Sugiura@trade.gov.
New Biotech Policy by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI): https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/100890873.pdf