Ltd. Bio-Venta signs a cooperation memorandum
On June 18, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the creation of a new biorefining ecosystem, which will make a significant contribution to the development of the bioeconomy. The memorandum was signed by 22 companies and organizations.
Economy Minister Viktors Valainis: "The biorefining industry memorandum opens a new page for Latvia's economy. It is a big step towards our goal - to double the size of the national economy within the next ten years. By cooperating with entrepreneurs, scientific institutions and the state administration, we can approach this goal much faster."
Biorefining is a rapidly growing industry that enables the processing of biomass into energy and consumer products such as building materials and food. The bioeconomy sector currently makes the largest contribution to Latvia's manufacturing industry. Its total export volume in 2023 was 7.86 billion euros, but since 2014 the level of export production has almost doubled. This industry provides 125 thousand jobs and has a huge potential for the development of the Latvian economy.
Director General of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) Raivis Bremšmits: "Latvia is an export nation and the bioeconomy is our natural advantage. Biorefining, as a new knowledge-intensive industry, provides us with wide development opportunities both in attracting investments and increasing the volume of exports to 80% of the gross domestic product." Biorefining is a process in which high added value products are obtained from biomass. If until now we exported a large amount of biomass to foreign countries, now the prerequisites have been created to process it in Latvia. In export markets, consumers have a growing demand for "green products" - this is a great opportunity for Latvia to use its natural advantages.
Biorefining allows up to 90% of biomass raw materials to be converted into materials that are widely used in the production of building materials, pharmaceuticals, cosmetology, textile industry, food processing and other industries, replacing fossil resources and chemicals. Biorefining makes it possible to obtain products such as biofuels, bioplastics, essential oils, nutritional supplements, cellulose, animal feed and fertilizers, as well as other valuable products. In this way, it is possible to reduce the ecological footprint created by the production process and make the final products more environmentally friendly.
The memorandum promotes good governance and initiatives to support and stimulate the development of new value chains from biological materials obtained from local raw materials, calling for a focus on the creation of the final product in Latvia. This will ensure that the economic benefits, job creation and sustainability practices associated with biorefining projects take advantage of Latvia's bioeconomy and will also promote regional development. In order to coordinate the cooperation between industry companies, universities, scientific institutions and the state administration, an action committee was established to ensure the exchange of information and cooperation between the parties involved.