SEOUL, KOREA - The Korean government formulated a blueprint aimed at fostering the nation’s medical equipment industry by improving the efficiency in regulation and expanding R&D investment.This is part of the government’s plan to develop the country into one of the world’s top-seven medical equipment powerhouses by 2020.
Economic ministers, including those from the Ministry of Health &Welfare, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, held a ministerial level meeting at the Sejong Government Complex on March 19.
After the meeting, they jointly released a mid- and long-term development plan for the medical equipment industry.The government set the nation’s development into the world’s top-seven medical equipment superpowers by 2020 as its mid- and long-term target, by expanding the nation’s medical equipment exports to 13.5 trillion won in 2020 from the current 2.5 trillion won.
Under this plan, the government aims to increase the global market share of the Korean medical equipment up to 3.8 percent from the current 1.2 percent, while enlarging the size of the industrial employment up to 130,000 from 37,000.
