Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok Urges Full Effort to Attract Large-Scale National Bioindustry Projects

Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok visited the Hwasun Vaccine Industry Special Zone on the 31st and urged a full-scale response to attract large-scale national projects to secure growth engines for Jeonnam's bioindustry.

The province is establishing a full-cycle infrastructure centered on the Hwasun Baeksan Industry Special Zone, including vaccine research and development, production, quality control, certification, and overseas regulatory education.

Based on this, they plan to create an ‘Advanced Medical Complex’ and attract the World Health Organization (WHO)'s global bio workforce training project, the ‘Global Bio Campus Construction Project’.

The designation of the ‘Advanced Medical Complex’ was adopted as a cooperative task with Gwangju City in July last year and is being jointly promoted. A dedicated task force (TF) was formed, and a service commencement report was made in March this year, with plans being devised for specialized project areas.

Jeonnam plans to establish an advanced bio new drug development forward base centered on the Hwasun Vaccine Industry Special Zone, where 15 support institutions including the Jeonnam Bioindustry Promotion Agency and Hwasun Jeonnam National University Hospital, as well as 33 bio companies including GC Green Cross, are concentrated.

In February last year, the World Health Organization designated South Korea as a global bio workforce training hub to alleviate vaccine inequality between countries. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the selection of the main campus for the ‘Global Bio Campus Construction Project’ for domestic and international bio workforce training on May 1, and will accept project proposals until June 2, with designation at the end of June.

Jeonnam Province plans to provide a thorough practical training environment centered on production sites, leveraging accumulated bio workforce training know-how in cooperation with educational centers within the special zone such as the Jeonnam Bioindustry Promotion Agency's Biopharmaceutical Research Center and the National Vaccine Safety Technology Support Center.

To attract the ‘Global Bio Campus Construction Project,’ a ‘Jeonnam Bio Workforce Training Council’ was formed on February 22 with workforce training institutions within the special zone. Additionally, on February 28, agreements were made with seven multinational bio companies including Sartorius, and in April, with nine regional universities and Yonsei University's Bio Process Workforce Training Center (K-NIBRT), solidifying domestic and international bio workforce training cooperation systems.

In March, the government announced a plan to nurture 110,000 future bio talents, and at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on May 26, it revealed plans to support research and development (R&D) worth 4.6 trillion won over ten years in four national advanced strategic industries: semiconductors, secondary batteries, bio, and others.

Accordingly, Jeonnam Province is accelerating proposals for the designation of the ‘Advanced Medical Complex’ for advanced bio new drug development research and bio company attraction, and is focusing its capabilities on attracting the government's ‘Global Bio Campus Construction Project’ to create an ecosystem favorable for corporate activities.

Governor Kim said, “For the development of the bioindustry, which is the future food source leading the next 100 years, it is very important to accumulate research and development capabilities and nurture talents needed by companies,” adding, “We will definitely attract the Global Bio Campus by utilizing the infrastructure of the Jeonnam Vaccine Industry Special Zone and actively cooperate with related organizations for the designation of the Advanced Medical Complex.”

Since May this year, Jeonnam Province has been providing biopharmaceutical production process training to 12 job seekers. In the second half of the year, practical training and job experience opportunities will be provided to about 380 local university and high school students. In particular, in October, on-site vaccine production process training will be operated for about 40 foreign trainees from Asia, steadily strengthening its capabilities as a hub for global bio talent development.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.