(unofficial translation)

I am glad to meet you all. Vaccine companies and research institutes from Korea and the United States have gathered here to sign vaccine partnership MOUs. Cytiva has submitted a report to the Korean Government for its investment plan. Vaccine enterprises and research organizations are about to sign eight MOUs on cooperation. I am deeply grateful to Cytiva’s President and CEO Emmanuel Ligner, other business leaders and researchers from both countries for attending this meaningful event.

At the Korea-U.S. summit in May, President Biden and I reached agreement on the necessity for more robust cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. We agreed to expand our bilateral partnership even into the field of healthcare and establish the KORUS Global Vaccine Partnership to strengthen joint response capabilities against infectious diseases. Today’s MOU signing ceremony is a significant milestone reached in the four months since then.

Cytiva, a global raw and processed biomaterial producer, announced its plan to invest US$52.5 million over the next three years – starting next year – in order to build a plant to produce vaccine-related materials in Korea. Two MOUs for the stable import and export of those materials will be signed, and cooperation on the joint development and contract manufacturing of vaccines will also be pursued. Extensive cooperation from the supply of raw and processed materials to vaccine development and production will help further strengthen the foundation for vaccine production in our two countries. I look forward to the United States’ outstanding development capacity being combined with Korea’s world-class biopharmaceutical production ability to dramatically increase vaccine production and supply.

The signing of MOUs between research institutes will help enhance cooperation on basic research as well. This will allow us to brace for novel infectious diseases and other health crises in an effective and preemptive manner. 

Korea envisions becoming one of the world’s top five vaccine producers. We designated vaccine development as one of the three major national strategic technology fields and last month announced our goal to become a global vaccine hub along with relevant strategies. All of the support and investments possible will be provided to the vaccine industry not only to contribute to bringing the COVID-19 outbreak to an end but also to guard against new infectious diseases. Cooperation with the international community will be expanded further. We hope to see considerably more interest and cooperation from U.S. businesspeople and researchers.

The only way to respond to COVID-19 is international solidarity and cooperation. Today, Korea and the United States have taken yet another exemplary and meaningful vigorous step forward. This has become an opportunity to move closer to our goal of protecting humanity from infectious diseases.

Thank you.