San Jose, Costa Rica. August 21, 2024. CINDE’s
Biomaterials Hub, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNA) are sponsoring the second edition of the forum Symbiosis: Biomaterials 2024 with the idea of positioning our country as the leader in sustainable bioproduct innovation, identifying key drivers as well as industry challenges and opportunities.
The event is being held in
IICA’s headquarters on August 21 with the participation of innovative bioeconomy and biomaterials projects, working groups to discuss sustainability solutions, and mentoring sessions aimed at startups. Speakers in these fields will also be attending from Germany and Brazil.
“We are fully convinced of Costa Rica’s tremendous potential for generating solutions based on our biodiversity and developing an innovative, high-impact ecosystem for the country. The size of the global biomaterials market has been estimated at around $21.3 billion and according to projections is expected to reach about $81.64 billion by 2028. Our country has many advantages to be harvested in the future, knowing that we have more than 5% of the world’s biodiversity,” affirmed CINDE managing director Marianela Urgellés.
Since its creation, CINDE’s Biomaterials Hub has focused its efforts on connecting people, universities, startups, large, small, and medium enterprises, multinational companies, incubators and accelerators, and other types of service providers to promote innovation and new business development as well as biomaterials research and collaborative development.
Costa Rican Opportunities to Revolutionize the IndustryAt the end of 2020, Costa Rica led Latin America in launching a national bioeconomy strategy, driven by its privileged position, abundant biodiversity, commitment to sustainability, and research infrastructure.
Universidad Nacional has been a strategic partner along this line, supporting research into biomass use (multi-purpose use of organic matter), bio-refinery (biomass processing for energy production), and other circular bioeconomy-related research lines.
“At Universidad Nacional we are committed to generating knowledge and innovation for taking advantage of our country’s biodiversity and to driving the establishment of a science- and technology-based bioeconomy. SYMBIOSIS represents a unique opportunity to build synergies among academia, industry, and other key stakeholders in the national ecosystem, driving Costa Rica’s sustainable development in the field of biomaterials and bio-based products. We believe that research and collaboration are essential for positioning our country as a leader in this emerging sector,” affirmed Dr. Jorge Herrera Murillo, vice-rector for research at the Universidad Nacional.
Costa Rica has tremendous opportunities in the field of bioeconomy - in biotechnology and pharmaceutics, for example, with the development of new pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products - for driving its sustainable economic development.
“The country’s biodiversity offers a vast repertoire of plants and organisms that can be used for developing new medicines or nutritional supplements,” added Urgellés.
Another huge opportunity for taking advantage of this industry’s potential is in the circular bioeconomy and sustainable agriculture. One FUNDES and CINDE study showed that the ten main agricultural products generate a total of 17.5 million tonnes of waste every year.
“IICA is committed to the issue of bioeconomy, a fundamental cooperation area for the institute, providing innovative and sustainable solutions for the challenges of agriculture with the best use of resources. To this respect, Costa Rica has strong potential for continuing to grow and serving as a model,” noted María Febres, IICA representative in Costa Rica.
Symbiosis: Biomaterials 2024 has the support and sponsorship of Impact Hub based on its AXES Ecosystem program, an endeavor aimed at opening access to markets for agrofood companies. Other sponsors include the Dutch Embassy, Coopetarrazú, and Biofín. In addition, the initiative is working collaboratively with CR-Biomed and five CONARE universities.
About CINDECINDE offers expertise and strategic guidance for investment, business development, and promotion of talent initiatives in Costa Rica. Thanks to its more than 43 years of working with multinational firms and serving as a key player in the investment ecosystem, CINDE has developed dozens of talent promotion initiatives as a key element in the Costa Rican business climate and helped more than 450 multinationals to set up in Costa Rica.
About IICAThe Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is the specialized agency for agriculture of the Inter-American System that encourages, promotes, and supports the efforts of its 34 Member States to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through superior international technical cooperation.
About UNAThe Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica is a public higher education institution founded in 1973. Known for its focus on research and innovation, UNA offers a wide array of under- and post-graduate programs in areas such as engineering, science, humanities, and social science and is recognized for its commitment to academic excellence and the training of skilled professionals.
