CHUNGCHEONGBUK-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(JECHEON=Yonhap News) An international expo on the Korean medicine, therapy and related biotech industry drew the curtain Tuesday in the southeastern town of Jecheon following a 19-day run that offered an opportunity to confirm the value of an industry combining traditional Korean medicine with biotech.

The organizing committee of the 2017 International Korean Medicine and Bio Industry Expo said the hosting of the expo helped Jecheon and South Korea's central province of North Chungcheong become a mecca for the Korean herbal medicine-biotech industry.

According to the committee, the number of visitors has reached a cumulative 1.1 million, or 60,000 per day. With the 100,000 mark posted in just three days after its opening on Sept. 22, the expo easily achieved its target of attracting 800,000 visitors.

Under the title of "Recreation of Korean Medicine-Evolve into the Korean Medicine Bio Industry," the annual bio expo was designed to offer a glimpse into the current state of the Korean medicine industry, which is developing various fields through the creative fusion of bio and traditional medicine. It is also expected to promote Jecheon, some 170 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as being at the center of the development.

Jecheon is one of the biggest producers and distributors of high-quality medical herbs on the Korean Peninsula.

The expo also delivered an economic boon to the region.

A total of 253 South Korean and foreign companies, and 311 foreign buyers from 28 countries have visited corporate booths at the expo, engaging in 1,585 cases of business negotiations and resulting in promoting export negotiations worth 23.19 billion won (US$20.43 million).

During the expo, more than 1,900 local and foreign experts on Korean and other alternative medicines, as well as the bio industry, took part in eight academic conferences and shared the latest information on the industry.

One of the symposiums, "2017 Bio Plus -- Jecheon," which was held on Sept. 25 under the sponsorship of the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, offered participants an opportunity to discuss ways to tackle the Nagoya Protocol, which took effect in August.

The protocol, adopted in October 2010 in the Japanese city, seeks the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the utilization of genetic resources for the subsequent conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Attending the closing ceremony of the expo were North Chungcheong Gov. Lee Si-jong and Semyung University President Lee Yong-gul, who served as co-chiefs of the organizing committee, and Jecheon Mayor Lee Keun-kyu, who headed the executive committee for the event, as well as 1,000 other people.



namsh@yna.co.kr

Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved.
Reprint or redistribution without permission is prohibited.