ID :
41454
Mon, 01/19/2009 - 12:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/41454
The shortlink copeid
Global biotech investor eyes S. Korean growth fund: gov't
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- A leading global biotech investor expressed interest in contributing to a "new growth engine fund" aimed at promoting cutting edge businesses that can sustain South Korea's future growth, the government said Monday.
Steven Burrill, head of Burrill & Company, a San Francisco-based life sciences
merchant bank, outlined U.S. and European business interests in South Korea's
biotech industry, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
It said the chief executive, who was named one of the world's top 50 visionaries
by the journal Scientific American in 2002, hinted in talks with Vice Minister
Rim Che-min that overseas investment may be injected into the brand new fund to
be set up this year.
Burrill & Company is the third largest bio-fund management firm in the world and
manages an estimated US$1 billion in financial resources. It previously invested
in state-sponsored biotech funds in the United States and Malaysia and has been
keeping tabs on visible achievements made by South Korean biotech companies and
laboratories over the past 15 years. The company has also given high marks for
South Korea's geographical location as a "gateway" to the growing Northeast Asian
market.
The ministry, in charge of industry and trade promotion policies, said before the
visit by the CEO, that Burrill & Company had considered creating its own fund to
enter the South Korean market.
The new growth engine fund announced on Jan. 13 is part of Seoul's policy
initiative to support the development of 17 future-oriented growth businesses,
including the biotechnology sector.
The government said it would inject over 13.6 trillion won (US$10 billion) into
the fund to help research and development and to build industrial infrastructure,
while up to 90.5 trillion won worth of investments would come from the private
sector.
To attract private investment, Seoul said a 250 billion won new growth engine
fund will be created this year, with the total to be expanded to 3 trillion won
by 2013.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
Steven Burrill, head of Burrill & Company, a San Francisco-based life sciences
merchant bank, outlined U.S. and European business interests in South Korea's
biotech industry, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
It said the chief executive, who was named one of the world's top 50 visionaries
by the journal Scientific American in 2002, hinted in talks with Vice Minister
Rim Che-min that overseas investment may be injected into the brand new fund to
be set up this year.
Burrill & Company is the third largest bio-fund management firm in the world and
manages an estimated US$1 billion in financial resources. It previously invested
in state-sponsored biotech funds in the United States and Malaysia and has been
keeping tabs on visible achievements made by South Korean biotech companies and
laboratories over the past 15 years. The company has also given high marks for
South Korea's geographical location as a "gateway" to the growing Northeast Asian
market.
The ministry, in charge of industry and trade promotion policies, said before the
visit by the CEO, that Burrill & Company had considered creating its own fund to
enter the South Korean market.
The new growth engine fund announced on Jan. 13 is part of Seoul's policy
initiative to support the development of 17 future-oriented growth businesses,
including the biotechnology sector.
The government said it would inject over 13.6 trillion won (US$10 billion) into
the fund to help research and development and to build industrial infrastructure,
while up to 90.5 trillion won worth of investments would come from the private
sector.
To attract private investment, Seoul said a 250 billion won new growth engine
fund will be created this year, with the total to be expanded to 3 trillion won
by 2013.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
