NTBB yet to see white biotech investment

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Shamsul Huda Despite approval of the Five-Year Action Plan on Industrial Biotechnology by the National Task-force on Biotechnology of Bangladesh (NTBB) under the Prime Minister's Office last year, it made little headway so far. According to sources in the Ministry of Industry (MoI), though the NTBB was formed for effective monitoring of the national policy on industrial biotechnology, also known as White Biotechnology, with the Prime Minister in the chair, it is yet to attract any investor. Ministry of Industries Deputy Secretary Tapan Kumar Nath said, "We have framed the National Industrial Biotechnology Policy Guideline while the Action Plan is our primary success as till now the biotechnology department under the Ministry of Science and Technology could not do it." Dr. Tofazzal Islam, Professor at the Biotechnology Department of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Agriculture University (BSMAU) said the manufacturing of industrial biotechnology-based products is gaining momentum across the world. He said knowledge-based industrial products are the future and Bangladesh should tap the opportunity as soon as possible. The BSMAU professor said the government's allocation of fund for research in the area is not enough. He said in Bangladesh also like many other countries of the world the research fund should come from industrialists for developing white biotechnology-based products. He also said the patent right is an important issue as an investor who will invest millions in development of such products will feel secure in that case. Mr. Islam said there is a demand for industrial biotech products in every industrial sector and for product development the government should follow the five-year action plan that is already approved by the government. MA Siddiqui, chairman of the Bangla Chemical, said as the businesspeople are not still aware about the concept and there is a lack of experts in the industrial sector, it is unlikely the entrepreneurs will invest their money now. He said to popularise the white biotechnology-based products in Bangladesh, the government should come forward to support the entrepreneurs as it did in developing hybrid IRRI seeds. Lutful Bari, chairman of the Cosmic Chemicals, said the currently Citric Acid, Insulin, Alcohol and some other products under white biotechnology are already being manufactured in the country. He said the government should come forward to invest for further expansion of the sector already manufacturing these biotech products and thus utilise their knowledge base. Mr Bari said disseminating biotechnology know-how among financial institutions, chamber leaders, investors, experts and the general people is an urgent need. Under the Five-Year Action Plan, the MoI has identified products like bio fuel, bio mass, food, beverages and feed processing, nano biotechnology, marine biotechnology, bioplastic, industrial enzymes, bio fertilizer, eco fertilizer under the biotechnology. If entrepreneurs come forward to invest in the technology, the ministry of industries would support them, said the MoI official, adding that they would be provided patent rights for their products. Another MoI official said due to absence of a long-term strategy, availability of key technologies and poor awareness are the constraints to accelerating use of the technology.