Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

SEJONG, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will step up efforts to cut red tape and streamline the process of regulatory approval for the biotechnology industry, as part of the government's drive to nurture bio industries as the country's future growth engines, according to the finance ministry on Sunday.

"A total of 15 regulatory reform plans are to be worked on, which include plans to promote R&D on new technologies, help develop high-tech medical devices, foster preventive health care services and streamline the medical device approval system," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a statement.

The government will also draw up guidelines on the use of private medical data and work on the construction of five health care data centers, including a big data center and a genome research center, it said.

The government will "ease regulations on manufacturing facilities, streamline the medical device approval system and improve advertising regulations," it said.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has said the government plans to raise its annual research and development budget for the biotechnology industry to 4 trillion won (US$3.4 billion) by 2025.

Last year, South Korea spent 2.5 trillion won for research and development for the biotechnology industry.

Hong also vowed to step up deregulation to help biotechnology startups become unicorns with a valuation of more than $1 billion.

Source Text

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

Source: Yonhap News (Jan. 19, 2020)