Nanotechnology Investment Worldwide

16 March 2007

Nanotechnology investment worldwide has been increasing at an accelerated pace for the past few years. In 2004, according to one study, international Nanotechnology research reached $8.6 billion, while another study indicates that as recent as 2006 Nanotechnology research and development reached $12.4 billion. In addition to pure Nanotechnology research, there are also Nano-enabled products, which accounted for $50 billion of global sales in that same year.

Global participation in Nanotechnology is a practice borne of necessity. Difference countries offer benefits that they can offer in terms of capital resources and markets that can help to advance Nanotechnology manufacturing. Additionally, different countries may have different approaches to their Nanotechnology efforts, resulting in various rates of success.

At present, leaders in the field are the United States, Germany, Japan and South Korea. But China is picking up the pace soon. That nation’s investments in Nanotechnology research, publications and patents are growing. Nanotechnology is of particular interest to China because it’s part of the Asian conglomerate of nations that manufactures and sells a wide variety of electronic products.

The Chinese government has shown great interest in Nanotechnology because of its prospects for transforming industries as well, such as the medical field, pharmaceuticals, and the environment, to name a few. For China, the market in 2005 exceeded $1,827 and is projected to surpass $4,000 million by 2010. For Nanofood, investments are expected to reach $20.4 billion by 2010, accelerating at 30.94 percent growth rate until then. The textile market is expected to surpass $13.6 billion by 2007, and will skyrocket to $115 billion in 2012.

U.S. and Japan are still the leaders in Nanotechnology investment and spending, but other nations such as South Korea have inched closer as well. Further, even countries like Russia and India have made strong investment initiatives recently. The breakdown in Nanotechnology spending worldwide is between the U.S. (28 percent), Japan (24 percent), Western European countries (25 percent), and then other regions, including Asia, Canada and Australia, for the rest.

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