Minister Yoon chaired the 3^rd Crisis Management Meeting, discussing the ways to improve the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry and to promote a "2010 employment recovery project."

A successful development of new drugs can make significant gains and provide economic and social benefits. For example, Lipitor, used for high cholesterol, recorded annual sales of US$13.6 billion, equal to selling 1.3 million unit vehicles. However, developing new drugs costs a lot of time and money which serves as an obstacle for small companies. Plus, Korea's trade deficit in pharmaceuticals continues to grow. At this backdrop, the government announced that it would provide R&D tax credits for bio-pharmaceutical and chemical drug industries and support research on new diseases.

Also, the government will make efforts to boost employment by promoting the internship program and the employment entry payment scheme.