South Korea aims to increase biotechnology industry capacity to 100 trillion won

The South Korean government said on Wednesday it intends to fully support the domestic biotechnology industry with the aim of increasing the sector’s productive capacity to 100 trillion won ($76.9 billion) by 2030 as part of its plans to become a leader in biotechnology.

The Ministry of Science, Communications and Information Technology has launched a long-term plan for the development of the biotechnology sector; With the aim of accelerating the integration of biotechnology and advanced digital technology as a means, to introduce more innovations in different sectors such as medicine, environment and agriculture.

South Korea’s annual production capacity for the biotechnology sector in 2020 reached about 43 trillion won, while the government is targeting 100 trillion won over the next 10 years, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

The ministry said it would encourage biotechnology companies to apply digital transformation strategies in the areas of biotechnology, including artificial intelligence-based medicines, digital healthcare devices, digital education and synthetic biology.

1,000 new companies are expected to be established annually by 2030, compared to 399 new companies in 2020, according to the Ministry of Science.