The Bio-Circular-Green Economic Model, or BCG, has been proposed by academics and advocated by the Thai government as a new economic model for inclusive and long-term growth. The Thai BCG Economy model uses technology and innovation to turn Thailand into a value-based and innovation-driven economy, leveraging the country’s assets in biological diversity and cultural richness. The model is also designed to correlate with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP), which is a major principle in Thailand’s social and economic development.
The Thai BCG Economy model is used to promote four industries. They are agriculture and food, medical and wellness, bioenergy, biomaterials and biochemicals, tourism and creative economy. The BCG model is based on Thailand’s strengths in robust agricultural activities, rich natural resources, and diversity in terms of both biological resources and physical geography. Science, technology, and innovation will be combined with the new policy and supportive legal and financial measures to improve the capacity and competitiveness of actors in the value chain, both upstream and downstream, in all four industries.
These four industries currently have a total economic worth of 3.4 trillion THB, accounting for 21% of GDP. In the next five years, the BCG model is predicted to grow this figure to 4.4 trillion THB (or 24 percent of GDP). The BCG model can add value in the following ways:
Food and Agriculture
Product diversity, product differentiation, high-value, and premium-quality products and services, waste reduction, and resource and land-use efficiency enhancement can all increase the sector’s value. Customer behavior analytics, optimized waste production, smart farming technologies, traceability, food and product safety, as well as the development of high-value and novel food products such as food for special groups of people (patients and the elderly, for example) and functional ingredients, can all help to support this strategy.
Medical and Wellness
In support of Thailand’s healthcare policy of promoting preventive medicine and precision medicine, the strategy includes intensive capacity building in technology and human capital in R&D and production technology for vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, and medical devices, as well as clinical research and product registration of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Platforms will be built to facilitate the use of genetic data as well as clinical research among all stakeholders involved, including researchers, industry, and regulatory agencies.
Bioenergy, Biomaterial and Biochemical
Because the government has set a renewable energy target of 30% of total final energy consumption by 2036, this sector has a lot of room for expansion. Advanced technology in energy produced from renewable sources like refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and biogas, as well as the establishment of community-based power plants (CBP) with a distributed energy resources (DERs) system using renewable energy sources like biomass and biogas and connected through blockchain-enabled smart microgrids, can all benefit the energy sector. This vision will necessitate extensive energy storage research.
Cutting-edge technologies will be developed and used to transform biomass and agricultural by-products into high-value commodities such as bioplastics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals in the materials and biochemical sector.
Tourism and Creative Economy
The policy to promote secondary cities and communities as new tourist destinations can boost Thailand’s tourism industry. Technology and innovation can build and upgrade infrastructure as well as a digital platform. Moreover, this is to increase the convenience and experience of tourists and move the industry toward high-quality tourism. Additionally, science and technology can develop national tourism guidelines, such as carrying capacity, as well as to promote a sustainable tourism standard system and to protect and restore the environment.
Tourism can link to other service industries under the creative economy concept to target niche markets such as wellness tourism, culinary tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, and sports tourism. The government, industry, communities, academics, and international organizations are all involved in the BCG strategy, which has four drivers and four enablers.
BCG Drivers
BCG Sectoral Development
The BCG model will focus on four sectors.
- Food and Agriculture
The goal is to move away from low-value commodities and toward value-added and premium items while also diversifying product offerings.
- Medical and Wellness
The purpose is to increase capacity in drug and biopharmaceutical production, medical devices and implants, precision medicine, and to establish a center for healthcare services and clinical research.
- Bioenergy, Biomaterial, and Biochemical
The goal is to provide energy security while also converting biomass into high-value products.
- Tourism and Creative Economy
In order to advance to high-quality tourism such as wellness tourism, culinary tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, and sports tourism, this sector aims to develop sustainable tourism, tourism destination management systems, conserve the environment, and link tourism with other service industries.
BCG Talent & Entrepreneur Development
The BCG model will target the following groups:
- Startups
- Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs)
- Smart Farmers
- High-Value Service Providers
- Deep Technology Developers
- Creative Entrepreneurs
BCG Area-based Development
Plans for area-based development are:
- Northern Economic Corridor (NEC)
Food safety and agricultural health standards, agro-industry and food processing are important. Additionally, the integration of “Lanna Culture” into products and services will be the emphasis of NEC.
- North-Eastern Economic Corridor (NEEC)
The focus is on tackling key regional health issues like a liver fluke. Moreover, it aims to expand insect farming as a protein source, and creating cultural tourism along the Mekong riverfront.
- Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)
Fruit production and the development of future industries will be the emphasis of growth in this region.
- Southern Economic Corridor (NEC)
Precision aquaculture, innovative halal food products, and the development of new tourism locations will be the focus of this region.
BCG Frontier Research/ Knowledge
The following cutting-edge areas have been identified as important to the development of BCG:
- Complex Microbiota
- Omics Technologies
- Bioprocess Engineering
- Gene Editing and Synthetic Biology
- Terahertz Technology
- Decarbonization
- Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing
- Advanced Digital Technology Platform integrating 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence system. However, it is for applications in an autonomous vehicle, neurocomputing, and underwater surveying.
BCG Enablers
BCG Regulatory Framework
This enabler intends to examine and alter laws and regulations. Importantly, it is in order to create an innovation ecosystem. Additionally, it aims to support the technological sandbox, and allow for product life cycle assessment.
BCG Infrastructure & Facility Development
The following facilities will be developed and supported:
- Biobank
- National Quality Infrastructure (NQI)
- Pilot and Demonstration Plants
- High-Performance Computing Facility
- Highspeed Internet
BCG Capacity Building
This enabler strives to develop people in a variety of disciplines and at all levels of the workforce. They can be students or present employees. Moreover, taxonomy, system biology, bioinformatics, and biological sciences are a few important disciplines. Additionally, computer engineering, and data science are among the fields that will be in high demand under the Thai BCG Economy model.
BCG Global Network
Research collaboration, technological demonstration, technology localization, and joint investment will all be established with foreign partners.
Bottomline
Be it the BCG enablers or drivers, the entire initiative is perfect for investors with innovative ideas and clear thoughts. Additionally, the Thai BCG Economy Model is having all the potential to lead the Thailand 4.0 ecosystem. Moreover, it will be good for both Thai as well as foreign investors in terms of greater shareholding and higher ROI. To register your business in the BCG Economy Model, mail us at [email protected].
