South Korea said Wednesday it plans to provide consulting services for exporters of antivirus products in efforts to foster the biohealth sector as a new growth engine.

Under the plan, the government will launch a joint consultative group with the private sector, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The country's exports of biohealth products, which include COVID-19 test kits, came to $14 billion in 2020, soaring 54.4 percent from a year earlier.

The latest move came as some suppliers have been facing delays in shipping their COVID-19-related products as they failed to promptly cope with different regulations around the globe.

The ministry added that global demand for antivirus products is expected to grow down the road as more countries are expected to stockpile such items amid the prolonged pandemic. (Yonhap)