President Moon on Aug. 5 at Cheong Wa Dae makes an announcement at a presentation on "Korea's Vision and Strategy for Becoming Global Vaccine Hub." (Cheong Wa Dae's official Facebook page)

President Moon Jae-in on Aug. 5 said Korea "will strongly push a national strategy for becoming a global vaccine hub, thereby contributing to overcoming infectious disease crises that impact all of humankind," adding, "We will strive to ensure that Korea joins the ranks of the top five global vaccine production powerhouses by 2025."

"The Republic of Korea will take the lead in solving this problem." 

At a presentation on "Korea's Vision and Strategy for Becoming Global Vaccine Hub" held at Cheong Wa Dae, he pledged KRW 2.2 trillion of budget over the next five years toward the goal of entering the world's top five.

"Tax benefits for R&D and facility investments will be significantly expanded. In addition, we will become self-sufficient with regard to technology and the production of essential materials, parts and equipment, thereby paving the way for domestic firms to maximize their production capabilities," he added.

"Creating a vaccine industry ecosystem is also crucial. We will make efforts to foster biopharmaceutical industry professionals, including more than 200 medical scientists, about 10,000 clinical trial experts and 2,000 production specialists annually," he said.

"We will establish a K-Bio Lab Hub and provide various incentives by designating high-tech investment zones."

President Moon also emphasized strengthening the global cooperation system.

"While working closely together with the United States to ensure that the global vaccine partnership agreed upon at the Korea-U.S. summit leads to substantive results, we will expand our vaccine partnerships with Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries," he said. "Communication and cooperation with such international organizations as the WHO (World Health Organization), global vaccine research institutes and manufacturing companies will also be enhanced."

The chief executive added that he "will lay the foundation for Korea's emergence as a global vaccine hub."

"Developing homegrown vaccines swiftly is also of paramount importance to secure vaccine sovereignty," he said, adding that he hopes for the commercialization of the first domestically developed vaccine by the first half of next year.

"The development of next-generation mRNA vaccines is also picking up speed," the president said. "The Government will subsidize the costs of clinical trials to speed up the development of homegrown vaccines and put various support systems in place, including those for localized production of raw and processed materials and for patent analysis."

xuaiy@korea.kr