By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter

The government has finalized its plan to build the country into the world’s seventh largest biotechnology player by 2012.

Under the plan, Korean companies seek to capture 10 percent of the global market in the next nine years, up from 1.4 percent last year.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) on Thursday, local biotech related production will jump from 1.9 trillion won ($1.58 billion) last year to 17 trillion won ($14.17 billion) in 2012.

Biotech exports will top $10 billion in 2012 from $700 million in 2002. A total of 1.6 trillion won, including 1.3 trillion won in state budget, will be invested.

Under the Bio-Star project, the MOCIE will select promising product groups and support 10 billion won annually for manufacturers that develop and produce biotech products with high growth potential over the next 10 years to promote development of innovative biotech related products.

In addition, the MOCIE seeks to make South Korea one of the world’s top four medication producers by 2012.

Ten core biomedical technology development projects will be selected and assisted for commercialization.

The 10 cutting-edge biotechnologies will be chosen from six medication sectors, including immunizing agents, drug delivery systems in the body, gene therapy and cell therapy.

The nation is focusing on three strategic areas: new medicine, artificial organs and biochips.

``Countries are racing to get ahead of their rivals in the booming biotechnology market, a field that merges pure science and engineering, which is being rapidly linked to a nation’s future competitiveness,’’ MOCIE official Kim Eun-ha said.

The general biotechnology competitiveness of South Korea stands at only 60 percent that of developed economies such as the United States, according to the MOCIE.

The government will invest 404.4 billion won into establishing infrastructure and training related workers in three districts that will be developed into regional biotech industrial clusters, each in Kangwon and Kyongsang provinces, the Cholla provinces and Cheju Island and Taejon and the Chungchong provinces, until 2006. Each region will be encouraged to specialize according to their individual characteristics.

sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr