DAEJEON -- The head of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning vowed Monday that the policy-planning agency would make its utmost efforts to beef up Korea’s science and technology sectors.

Noting that low productivity, population aging and weak domestic demand are the prime reasons for the nation’s slowing growth rate, KISTEP president Park Young-ah said the institute would aim to overcome the ongoing economic difficulties by “creating a sound business environment, nurturing the talents and strengthening public and private partnerships and international cooperation.”

As a government-run agency at the forefront of the government’s flagship creative economy drive, she said, KISTEP would swiftly respond to challenges at home and abroad.

KISTEP, a government-run science and technology policy planning agency, hosted a discussion session on science and technology policy and R&D on Monday, the opening day of the five-day OECD Ministerial Meeting and World Science and Technology Forum in Daejeon.

In order to tackle global threats -- economic recession, income inequality and climate change, which could trigger social instability -- she underscored that “inclusive growth,” aimed at benefiting all economic players, and “green growth,” to protect the environment through innovations, are essential.

The other speakers at the session included Torbjorn Roe Isaksen, the Norwegian minister of education and research; Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud, vice president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia; Chung Chil-hee, deputy president at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, an R&D organization of Samsung Electronics; and Curtis Carlson, chief executive of The Practice of Innovation.

The Samsung deputy president emphasized the importance of what he called “open innovation and collaboration,” which promote proactive engagement in projects to develop new technology with partners from various fields.

Samsung Electronics’ spending on research and development accounted for 30 percent of the nation’s entire R&D expenditure, and the firm allotted $17.1 billion for R&D projects in 2014, compared to the Korean government’s $17.8 billion during the same period.

“Through such investment Samsung has been leading industrial categories such as DRAM, UHD TV, smartphone, refrigerator and solid state drive,” he said.

Mentioning about an Ebola drug, which has proved 100 percent successful in trials in Guinea so far, the Norwegian education minister emphasized cross-border cooperation in achieving innovation.

“The vaccine was the result of scientists, doctors, donors, and pharmaceutical companies coming together and rapidly diverting the needed resources to the clinical testing of the vaccine,” the minister said.

Founded in 1999, KISTEP has been making contributions to the growth of the nation’s science and technology sectors, planning and making state policies, and allotting budgets.

The institute also specializes in conducting feasibility studies for state-led R&D projects to ensure efficient R&D spending and to help research organizations come up with better results.

Envisioning to become a global planning and evaluation research institute, the KISTEP has been making efforts to foster collaboration with other research institutes from different nations by building networks of science and technology researchers.

The KISTEP signed a memorandum of understanding with the KACST to build a network of experts and researchers and promote their joint efforts for R&D.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)