NA starts Special Act to support the pharma and bio industry

Budget support, tax cuts, etc

Representative bill by Rep. Il-Young Jung, Democratic Party of Korea

The National Assembly is pushing for the enactment of a special law to bring together the capabilities at the national level to promote and foster the biopharmaceutical industry.

 

The policy agenda includes the establishment of a basic plan every 5 years, the establishment of a Pharmaceutical Biohealth Innovation Committee, and the provision of policy support such as research and development facilities, tax incentives for bio special zones, and practical support such as substantial budget support and tax cuts.

 

On the 24th, Rep.

 

Il-Young Jung, a member of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee, and the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed the ‘Special Act on the Promotion of the Pharmaceutical Biohealth Industry and Strengthening of Competence (Bio Special Act).’ As the bio industry is a core industry with strategic value in health, medicine, society, economy, and security, the need for support for biotechnology development and the industry as a whole has been raised.

 

In particular, after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, the bio industry has established itself as a national strategic industry that has a significant impact not only on the health of the people but also on the national economy and security, and there has been a growing demand to foster the industry at the national level.

 

In response, Rep Il-Young Jung proposed the Bio Special Act to enable the government to provide comprehensive support and foster the bio industry in a timely manner, and establish a legal basis for supporting the bio industry.

 

The bill includes ▲the establishment and implementation of a five-year basic plan, ▲the establishment and operation of the Pharmaceutical Bio-Health Innovation Committee, ▲budget support for R&D and infrastructure construction, ▲designation of bio-special zones, and the ▲provision of special exemptions such as tax support for special zones and exemption from preliminary feasibility studies and regulatory improvements.

 

In addition, the plan includes ▲tax and financial support for foreign-invested companies and companies returning to Korea, ▲the creation of a bio-industry fund, and ▲support for the training of professionals and vocational training.

 

Among these, the tax support is intended to reduce taxes on pharmaceutical and bio-health companies in accordance with the relevant tax laws, such as the Act On Restriction On Special Cases Concerning Taxation and Act On Restriction On Special Cases Concerning Local Taxation, to promote investment in the pharmaceutical and bio-health industry and revitalize special zones.

 

“The current Korean economy is facing a difficult situation with a growth rate of just over 1%, and this economic difficulty is largely due to structural problems in the Korean industrial structure, rather than a temporary phenomenon,” said Rep.

 

Il-Young Jung.

 

He also pointed out that ”The trade environment is deteriorating further due to domestic political instability and the tariff war that began under the Trump administration in the United States, which will significantly hurt the semiconductor and automobile industries, which have driven the Korean economy.” “The need for new growth industries has been continuously raised to overcome the difficulties of the Korean economy, and the bio industry is the most in the spotlight,” said Jung, ”It is necessary to intensively foster the bio industry and quickly develop it into a major industry that will lead the Korean economy.” “The global bio industry market will grow to about USD 3.3 trillion by 2027.

 

We will establish a legal and institutional foundation for the promotion of the bio industry through the Bio Special Act so that the Korean bio industry can become globally competitive and serve as a new economic engine for Korea, to succeed the semiconductors and automobile industry.”