Bamboo economy is defined as an economic sector based on the cultivation of bamboo and its industrial transformation into derived products. For climatic reasons, these crops are found almost entirely in countries in tropical and subtropical climatic areas. The bamboo plant is the largest among herbaceous plants, given that there are more than 75 genera and 1,500 species, of which 65% are native to Southeast Asia, 32% grow in Latin America, and the rest in Africa and Oceania. In North America there are three native species and in South America 440 species.

Bamboo grows spontaneously in many warm and temperate climate regions of Africa, Asia, America, Oceania, up to medium mountain altitudes. In Europe it is grown in greenhouses, in very limited quantities, mainly in botanical gardens, sometimes with the further help of remote heating[1]​ and other means of protection, such as planting in gardens inside buildings. Currently, the total value of the global bamboo-based economy is estimated to be close to $10 billion.[2]​.

Bamboo trunks are used primarily as a material for the construction of medium and small houses, small bridges, water mills and microhydro electric generators. In the construction industry they are used to make the supports and framework of roofs of buildings, even of considerable dimensions and in some cases (as in Hong Kong) as temporary frameworks and supports used in the construction phase of buildings with many floors high and even skyscrapers.

In the furniture sector, bamboo trunks are typically used to build tables and chairs that are very resistant to the elements, also in very humid and rainy environments.

Their appearance is characteristic, difficult to hide, and they give an oriental touch to the environments where they are found.

Transformed into pulp, bamboo can be used to make newsprint, cardboard or artificial textile fiber.

The greatest diffusion of bamboo buildings and products coincides with the tropical areas of the Far East, in Burma, Cambodia, northeastern India, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and southern China (in the province of Guangdong).

The areas where bamboo buildings are built correspond closely to those where the plant grows spontaneously. These are tropical, subtropical and tropical mountain climates, characterized by high ambient humidity and abundant rainfall.

Malacca root is a natural fabric obtained from the roots of the malacca plant, family Bambusaceae. It is extremely resistant due to its hardness and impermeability. Dark brown in color, it acquires certain shades over time that give it its particular brindle appearance.