First and foremost, I’d like to warmly greet everyone participating in such a significant conference. I would also like to express my gratitude to everyone who organized this event, and, especially, to Valerie Reed and the BETO team, who were kind enough to invite me to be here today with all of you. It is a great honor for me to deliver a keynote speech on behalf of ABBI. Not only because it is for me a great opportunity to offer a few perspectives from Brazil, but, largely, because it is both humbling and inspiring to be amongst you all. Humbling because the efforts that the DoE and the United States government have taken to promote the bioeconomy is for us a reference. We look at to you as a source of best practice and leadership in our …show more content…
You are the ones on the forefront, developing advanced technologies, the novel policies, and the concept of how we can turn biomass – something Brazil is largely competitive in – into valuable industrial resources. The organization that I represent, the Brazilian Industrial Biotechnology Association, was established with exactly these values and vision that I see here today. Back in 2014, 12 companies from Brazil, the United States, and the European Union, convened under the common belief that industrial biotechnology is Brazil’s most promising vector of economic development and global projection. They are inspired by the conviction that our country currently holds the highest potential to become a leader our transition towards a bioeconomy. But before I advance, I’d like to make a disclaimer: I believe that most of what I have to say here today are things you already know. Well, let me rephrase this: It is highly likely you already know most things I have to say here, but I’ll just say it with a Brazilian …show more content…
Therefore, sharing best-practices and mobilizing public-private resources are not only valid, but required measures. 4. Develop a coherent and modern regulatory framework We work in a multidimensional environment, touching on a number of sectors (from agribusiness, food, chemicals, etc.) and encompassing a broad and diverse range of stakeholders (academia, policy-makers, scientists, NGOs and civil society). It is therefore an understatement to say the bioeconomy requires stronger policy coordination at the national and international levels. If we aim to achieve its full potential, we need all actors working together at various levels in a coherent, collaborative manner. The energy policy has to speak with the agricultural policy, as well as with the environmental, health, industrial and science & technology policies. Biosafety protocols must be equally aligned with biodiversity and industrial property regulations, for example. Not an easy task, right? 5. Communicate with clarity of speech and