Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
Global bio leaders to gather in Seoul for World Bio Summit
President Yoon Suk Yeol gives an opening speech during World Bio Summit 2022 at Grand Walkerhill Seoul hotel in Gwangjin District, Seoul, Oct. 25, 2022. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
By Jung Da-hyun
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the World Health Organization will co-host the World Bio Summit 2023 in Seoul from Monday to Tuesday.
This year's event will take place at the Conrad Seoul hotel under the theme of "Strengthening capacities for pandemic response," bringing together representatives from governments, the scientific community, the private sector and international organizations that played a pivotal role in responding to COVID-19 in the vaccine and biotechnology fields.
The World Bio Summit, driven by the Korean government's pursuit of becoming a global hub for biotechnology, is an annual international event where leaders in the field from various countries, companies and international organizations are invited to discuss international collaboration strategies.
This is the second time the event is being held, following last year's inaugural summit.
About 200 participants, including those from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), as well as health ministers from various countries are set to attend the event.
Discussions will focus on how to respond to the next infectious disease outbreak.
Through this event, discussions will cover various topics related to preparing for future pandemics, including expanding the capacity for vaccine production and development at governmental, business, and international organization levels.
There will also be in-depth discussions on concrete plans for regional and continental cooperation models for vaccine production and development in the recent context of the vaccine field, according to the health and welfare ministry.
"We hope that the World Bio Summit 2023 will serve as a constructive opportunity to reflect on the importance of global cooperation for future pandemic responses, to establish a secure healthcare system against threats to human health, and to encourage sustained attention and action for infectious disease responses," Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said.