보건복지부 영문홈페이지

2nd Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare Park Minsoo Meets

with the Ministry of Health of Armenia, Romania, and Kazakhstan

- Discussion on cooperation in the healthcare sector

at “Medical Korea 2023 Conference” -

□ On March 24, Korea’s 2nd Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare Park Minsoo met with his counterparts of the Ministries of Health, First Deputy Minister of Armenia Lena Nanushyan, Secretary of State of Romania Catalin Bisean, and Vice-Minister of Kazakhstan Beibut Yessenbayev at InterContinental Seoul COEX Hotel to discuss cooperation in the healthcare sector, including bio and digital healthcare.

○ The bilateral meetings were held at the request of the respective Ministries of Health during their visit to the Republic of Korea on the occasion of attending the “Medical Korea 2023” to discuss cooperation in the healthcare sector.

□ (Meeting between the Ministries of Health of Korea and Armenia) This year marks the 31st anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Armenia. Although the two countries are distant from each other geographically, Armenia is Korea’s important partner with a wide range of healthcare cooperation areas.

○ First Deputy Minister Lena Nanushyan proposed to work together in various areas, such as sharing Korea's experience in the health insurance system and its international training.

○ Vice-Minister Park explained the best practices of various international cooperation efforts such as the Bahrain’s SEHATI-IT project and cross-border training courses, emphasizing that Korea's health insurance system and big data system are gaining worldwide recognition. And he went on to say there will be great possibilities for further cooperation between the two countires.

□ (Meeting between the Ministries of Health of Korea and Romania) Korea and Romania laid the foundation for cooperation in the healthcare sector by signing an memorandum of understanding (MOU)* for healthcare cooperation in 2016. The two countries have continued their close partnership, such as mutual donation of vaccines and medical supplies, during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

* (Major fields of cooperation) Healthcare system and national public health strategy; organization, operation, budgeting and laws and regulations of public healthcare services; investment policy for attracting private partners in the healthcare infrastructure sector.

○ Vice-Minister Park underscored that the COVID-19 pandemic, an aging population, and the advancement of digital/technological convergence have created a paradigm shift in the medical services, bringing about the provision of patient-centered integrated services ranging from medical, healthcare services to caring services.

○ He also introduced various policies in Korea, such as the establishment of an electronic health record system (My Healthway) and smart hospitals and the further development of advanced technological convergence (R&D), and proposed to formulate cooperation plans between the two countries in the digital and bio-health fields.

□ (Meeting between the Ministries of Health of Korea and Kazakhstan) Korea and Kazakhstan have been developing bilateral relations by adopting a “joint statement on the expansion of strategic partnership” between the Presidents of the two countries in 2021, after signing an MOU* for healthcare cooperation in 2011.

* (Major fields of cooperation) Health and pharmaceutical fields, hygiene and infectious disease control, introduction of innovative medical technologies, information exchange in the healthcare sector, training of medical professionals, improved access to healthcare services between the two countries

○ Although the number of patients from Kazakhstan has been decreasing since the COVID-19 pandemic, about 3,500* Kazakhstan patients came to Korea to receive treatment in 2021, and the exchanges of medical services have been actively performed between the two countries, such as expanding Korean medical services into Kazakhstan by Seegene Medical Foundation and Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital.

* (2017) 12,566 patients → (2018) 12,987 patients → (2019) 13,424 patients → (2020) 3,102 patients → (2021) 3,484 patients

** Eight cases of medical service exports to Kazakhstan have been reported since the introduction of “Korea Healthcare Export System” in 2016.

○ Vice-Minister Beibut Yessenbayev proposed collaboration between the two countries in the field of healthcare data including pharmaceuticals, medical devices and health information.

○ Vice-Minister Park explained the healthcare big data policy, which is in progress based on vast amounts of medical data and information and communications technology (ICT) competency of Korea, and highlighted that Korea will be an excellent partner to advance medical informatization in Kazakhstan.

□ He also said at each meeting, “I look forward to your presence at “Bio Korea 2023” to be held in May this year, which is the largest international conference of the bio-health industry in Korea, and hopefully this will serve as an opportunity to help experience Korea's outstanding bio-health industry firsthand, and a platform to discuss bilateral healthcare cooperation once again.”