Meeting of the Working Group on the Industrial Bioeconomy

The Working Group on the Industrial Bioeconomy held a meeting chaired by Andre Koltermann of Clariant Produkte at Messe Hannover’s congress centre on 8 October during BIOTECHNICA 2013. The agenda included discussion on communication measures that have been completed, such as the flyer on white biotechnology, the brochure on entrepreneurs and BIO Deutschland’s stand in the bioeconomy section at HANNOVER MESSE 2013. The topic of how to convey the message to policymakers and society in general that “biotechnology is a cornerstone of the bioeconomy” was also discussed. Participants included Thorsten Eggert of Evocatal and Peter Welters of Phytowelt, who gave short presentations on their companies and products in the field of industrial biotechnology. The agenda also included discussion on the amount of state funding awarded to biotechnology and to small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as a position paper on this subject. The participants welcomed BIO Deutschland’s decision to take part in the bioeconomy section of next year’s HANNOVER MESSE. BIO Deutschland members are welcome to request a copy of the minutes of the meeting from the association’s office (e-mail: info@biodeutschland.org).