– Based on its Success as an IT Center, Gyeonggi Province Plans to Grow into a Hub for BT (Biotechnology)

On May 22 2008, Gyeonggi Province hosted the Gyeonggi Bio Investment Environment Presentation, as part of the Global Biotech Forum held at COEX, Seoul.

The presentation was attended by more than 50 foreign companies, including global pharmaceutical firms such as Merck, J&J, and Pfizer, and numerous biotech firms as well as more than 60 domestic pharmaceutical firms including as Yuhan, Choongwae Pharma Corporation, and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, and 40 organizations including the National Research Institute indicating the high level of interest in the bio and pharmaceutical industries.

In early 2008, Gyeonggi Province decided to work actively to attract investments from the world’s top 500 global companies, and this presentation on its bio and pharmaceutical industries was part of this initiative.

During the presentation, Gyeonggi Province highlighted that its bio industry accounts for 35% of the entire bio industry in Korea, 36.5% of the pharmaceutical industry, and 59.5% of both industries in terms of the number of people employed.

The presenters also highlighted the current predictions that Northeast Asia, which accounts for 18% of the world’s GDP and represents a population of 1.6 billion, will emerge as an important market for the international bio and pharmaceutical businesses.

The province emphasized that it is equipped with a higher level of related technology experts and infrastructure than any other nation in Northeast Asia, and urged participants to invest in the province.

In order to attract more investments, Gyeonggi Province plans to build a global R&D Center in Pangyo Techno Valley, and to actively utilize diverse incentives, such as employment subsidies and training subsidies.

The province will actively perform overseas activities to attract investments in the bio and pharmaceutical industries. It will actively attract global bio and pharmaceutical businesses to the foreign investment complex, while aggressively accommodating the R&D activities of global bio and pharmaceutical firms by building a R&D complex for invited foreign firms in Pangyo Techno Valley.

These efforts well illustrate the province’s commitment to grow into a hub of the BT industry, a next-generation growth engine, as well as a global hub for IT firms including Samsung Electronics, LG Display, and Hynix Semiconductor.