The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would become the hub of the nation’s biomedical industry by easing regulations to support the sector.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said he would spare no resources to help the industry discover innovative technologies and commercialize them, in the “Seoul BioMedical International Conference 2018,” held at the City Hall on Wednesday.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon speaks at the “Seoul BioMedical International Conference 2018” at the City Hall on Wednesday.

“Biotech is one of the leading sectors of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, drawing attention as an industry for future growth. Based on Seoul’s well-established infrastructures including many hospitals and universities, we will nurture this area intensively,” Park said.

He vowed to ease regulations drastically to help the industry conduct biomedical research and develop it into a business.

“We will expand our funds for the biomedical sector and support companies to expand their business overseas,” he added.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will collaborate with global pharmaceutical firms such as Johnson & Johnson to develop world-class technologies based on the biomedical cluster in Hongneung, northeastern Seoul, according to Park.

Last year, the capital city completed the construction of Seoul Bio Hub in Hongneung to support biomedical firms’ research and entrepreneurship, as well as to help regional development.

Seoul has been actively seeking and sharing strategies to attract foreign investment and to turn technologies into businesses by cooperating multinational firms including Johnson & Johnson.

The capital city hopes to make the biomedical cluster in Hongneung a Silicon Valley in the biomedical industry.

“The conference was designed to explore future strategies of the Seoul Metropolitan Government to become ‘the best biomedical venture city in Northeast Asia,’ inviting biomedical experts from all around the world,” said Cho In-dong, deputy mayor for economic development. “It also aims to introduce the commercialization of technological innovations and investment attraction strategies for biomedical startups.”

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