KOTA KINABALU: For six months, 30 Sabah farmers will have earthworms as their "best friends" while they learn how to turn agricultural waste into high-quality bio-based fertiliser using vermicomposting techniques.
By the second quarter of 2021, Bioeconomy Corp awarded the BioNexus Status to 250 companies which contributed to Malaysia’s economy by $963.5 million (RM4 billion) in cumulative realised investments and $289 million (RM1.2 billion) in revenue.
Malaysia is strategically positioned to make the country a much-sought-after hub of Bioeconomy. In 2020, it completed the final phase of the National Biotechnology Policy (NBP), and is betting on its bioeconomy sector to drive a robust economic recovery through programmes and initiatives of Bioeconomy Corporation. As a regional leader in this sector, being the second country in Asia and the first country in South East Asia to announce a national bioeconomy initiative, Malaysia has already set the ball rolling. Moreover, in line with the National Recovery Plan, it has also framed a Bioeconomy blueprint to address pandemic challenges and to boost various sectors that are crucial to the economy. The country is poised to globalise bioentrepreneurship by bestowing fiscal incentives and grants through special BioNexus Status, effectively making it a major global player to reckon with, in the bioeconomy space.