Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Delivers Opening Remarks at CEPI’s Board Meeting

1. On August 29, Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kweon Ki-hwan attended the Board meeting of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which was held in Korea for the first time. In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister Kweon highly commended CEPI's efforts to prepare for future pandemics and its expanded investment in Korean biotech companies.

※ CEPI is a global public-private partnership platform launched on the occasion of the Davos Forum in 2017 to secure funds for the development and stockpiling of vaccines for new infectious diseases. It is planning to invest over 410 million U.S. dollars in Korean biotech companies and institutions for vaccine development.

2. Deputy Minister Kweon, pointing out the recently growing concerns about the global spread of infectious diseases such as Mpox, reaffirmed the Korean government's support for CEPI's role in vaccine development in preparation for future pandemics.

3. Deputy Minister Kweon also appreciated CEPI's partnerships with Korean institutions and companies such as SK Bioscience, Chungbuk National University, Lemonex, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. He emphasized the need to broaden the scope of cooperation to include the fields of health research and the education program through the WHO Global Training Hub for Biomanufacturing.

4. Deputy Minister Kweon expressed his hope that the world will become a safer place for future generations by strengthening global health security and ensuring developing countries an equitable access to vaccines.

5. The Korean government will actively join the international community's efforts for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response through cooperation with diverse global health organizations including CEPI.