Seoul, March 25 The South Korean government will work to foster some 27,000 bio-health talents this year as part of efforts to promote growth of the industry, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
The plan was announced in a bio-health innovation committee meeting as part of the government's broader initiative aimed at fostering a total of 108,000 experts in the sector by 2027, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Yonhap news agency reported.
The experts will include physician-scientists and young talents with master's or doctorate degrees in advanced technologies related to bio-health.
For the goal, the government will strengthen support for cross-sectoral cooperation between private companies and academic institutions in the sector, according to the ministry.
In the meeting, the government also discussed ways to streamline regulations that hinder the growth of the bio-health industry, such as a validation guideline on medical device software, and raise the burden on high-risk clinical research projects on advanced regenerative medicine.
Earlier, the Ministry of Economy and Finance as part of the new growth engine project said it will also expand investment in bio and medical research and development projects to improve the country's response capabilities to infectious diseases.
In detail, it will support 14 vaccine development projects and 34 diagnosis and medical treatment development projects this year.
The projects will include developing virus treatments to respond to the so-called Disease X, which refers to pathogens that can lead to another pandemic, and gene treatment technologies.
The government will also devise an innovation strategy for the biohealth cluster and push for the installation of a quantum strategy committee as part of efforts to promote the growth of new industries, the ministry said.
Moreover, the Ministry also announced the plan, at fostering new growth engines for the economy.
The government aims to create a cloud data center that uses homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) chips and establish a national AI computing center, it said.
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