THE Netherlands is opening its doors to Malaysian companies to cooperate and tap opportunities in the areas of biomass and bio-based economy.
Reiterating that The Netherlands has one of Europe’s large biomass technology industry, its ambassador to Malaysia Karin Mossenlechner said there were an abundance of avenues for Malaysian companies to venture into the sector.
“Biomass is one of the areas we are exploring together with Malaysia. We believe there are a lot of opportunities for Malaysia in the bio-based economy and able to produce bio-based energy from sources that are available here,” she told NST Business in an interview, here, recently.
Mossenlechner said the country has ample knowledge in waste and waste water management, changing biomass into bio-energy or products that can be used in the agriculture sector, noting that The Netherlands is one of Europe’s largest agriculture exporters.
“These are the areas we are looking at in working with Malaysian palm oil producers as well as various companies, knowledge institutes and government agencies in Malaysia,” she added.
The government has recognised biotechnology as one of the key strategic drivers to propel the country’s social and economic development.
To this, The Malaysian National Biotechnology Policy (NBP), launched in 2005, aimed to
further develop three economic sectors, namely agriculture, healthcare and industrial manufacturing.
The policy is also aimed to boost the growth of an eco-system throughout the scientific, academic and business communities in the country.
Malaysian Biotechnology Corp was created as the lead agency responsible for the coordinated implementation of the NBP.
Mossenlechner said apart from biomass processing, The Netherlands is also leading in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, including in the areas of wind energy at sea and greenhouse farming.
“Solar energy is another sector Malaysia can tap synergies from The Netherlands, as Malaysia receives a lot of sunlight and this could result in better yield in energy,” she said.
According to online news report, energy generated from wind and solar energy increased by about 20 per cent in The Netherlands, while biomass remains the largest source and accounts for 63 per cent of renewable energy production in the country.