-Busan City is taking a new leap forward as a melting pot for new industries by creating five innovation clusters for future new industries centered on digital and eco-friendly products in each region in a simple bipolar system centered on manufacturing in the western region and tourism and information and communication (IT) in the eastern region.
– The government’s efforts to designate various special zones, such as special opportunity development zones, special urban convergence zones, and global innovation special zones, and the unprecedented incentives resulting from designation serve as a catalyst for the growth of new industries and accelerate the rush of excellent anchor companies to Busan.
– Securing the sustainability and expandability of new industrial guidance by nurturing local talent through innovation in local economics… Looking forward to seeing “youth – talent – companies” boiling over in the cauldron called Busan.
□ Busan City (Mayor Park Hyeong-jun) announced that Busan's industrial map is thoroughly drawing innovation clusters in each region and is being changed with a focus on future new industries.
○ In the past, the manufacturing industry in the West Busan region, which led the rise and fall of the Republic of Korea, and the tourism and information and communication (IT) industries in Haeundae and Centum in the East Busan region took up most of Busan's industrial map, but now they are being repainted here and there with new colors of digital and eco-friendliness.
○ New future industry innovation clusters linked to existing major industries are being created and expanded throughout Dongbusan, the original downtown, and West Busan, and if you look at the industrial portfolios of each cluster, they can be said to be melting pots for new industries.
□ The five new industry innovation clusters* being newly drawn throughout Busan are comprised of future key new industries centered on eco-friendly technology development and digital transformation to become a world-class (global) 'green smart city'.
○ In particular, a major characteristic is that industrial groups with distinct characteristics in each region have been further advanced, and high-tech industries linked to surrounding geographical advantages have been intensively fostered and integrated.
* Five new industry innovation clusters: (Dongbusan) ➊ Mountain Valley, ➋ Suyeong River Belt /
(original city center) ➌ Startup belt, ➍ Boost belt / (Western Mountain) ➎ Nakdong River Belt
□ First, the eastern Busan region is moving northeast toward Gijang-gun, creating new growth engines for Busan such as power semiconductors and secondary batteries, while also continuing digital innovation.
○ The radiology and E-Park industrial complexes in the Gijang area, called ‘➊Mountain Valley’, are being transformed into industrial complexes for core technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution, such as power semiconductors and secondary batteries. Investments in new industries by excellent companies such as Geumyang Co., Ltd. and STI Co., Ltd. are continuing, and in particular, the Radiological Science Industrial Complex has been designated as a specialized complex for power semiconductors, and an economic ripple effect of 8 trillion won, including 7 billion won in private investment, is expected.
○ In addition, the '➋ Suyeong River Belt', which starts from Centum City, which is in a state of saturation, and connects Unicorn Tower and Centum District 2, is expected to support the advancement of the existing information and communication technology (ICT) industry such as extended reality (XR) and metaverse and digital technologies such as sensors and robots. It is growing into a hardware base.
□ Next, the original downtown area connecting Seomyeon-Munhyeon-Bukhang-Yeongdo is an urban water-friendly space that is being reborn as a specialized space for youth startups and a base for smart finance and new marine industries.
○ ‘➌Startup Valley’ is being steadily built based on areas with high accessibility such as Seomyeon, Busan Station, and North Port, and the private sector is also creating digital hubs for youth entrepreneurship such as ‘Open Innovation Startup Town’ and ‘Green Startup Town’. It is being promoted in earnest.
○ In addition, with the promotion of BIFC and blockchain regulation-free special zones and digital asset exchanges, Munhyeon Financial Complex is growing beyond Korea into a world-class (global) financial special zone representing Asia.
○ The area around Bukhang and Yeongdo, where the 2030 Busan World Expo is scheduled to be held, is a '➍Boost Belt' that will support not only marine new industries such as marine and fisheries big data, microsatellites, and marine urban air traffic (UAM), but also residential work utilizing the sea. It is also being developed as a specialized tourist destination.
□ Lastly, the West Busan region is specialized in smart manufacturing with the '➎Nakdong River Belt' connecting Sasang-Janglim-Eco Delta City (hereinafter 'EDC'), and cutting-edge technologies such as bio, future mobility, and cloud, centered on Eco Delta City (EDC). It is expected to become a mecca for the research and development (R&D) industry.
○ About 3 billion won is being invested to transform the old Shinpyeong and Jangnim industrial complexes into 'smart green industrial complexes' and are also steadily progressing in creating an innovation ecosystem for small and medium-sized manufacturing industries, such as applying smart factory technology to traditional manufacturing industries.
○ The bio and cloud industries will also be intensively fostered through the development of a ‘smart healthcare cluster’ and a ‘green data center complex’ within Eco Delta City (EDC), and the 16 pyeong area dedicated to attracting businesses in Busan will be fully utilized to develop innovative technologies. We plan to attract many high-tech companies as well. The '2nd Eco Delta City (EDC)', which is being ambitiously prepared in the western part of Gimhae Airport, will be developed as an aviation industry cluster including aircraft maintenance (MRO) and drones and an international business district, and will serve as a new heart that will bring a quantum jump to Busan. It is expected that
○ In addition, considering various synergy effects such as logistics benefits from the opening of Gadeok New Airport, creation of an airport complex city (air city) behind the new airport, promotion of additional designation of free economic zone in the Gadeok Island area, and expansion to the southern coastal belt, the industrial growth potential of the West Busan region can be said to be infinite.
□ Companies also respond to Busan City’s efforts. The rush of excellent new industry-focused companies to Busan is continuing in earnest. Last year, we achieved the highest ever investment attraction performance of 3 trillion won, and this year we have already achieved investment attraction of more than 3.9 trillion won, so it is certain that we will achieve the highest ever investment attraction performance.
○ The reason not only large corporations such as Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Power Systems but also many small but strong companies are successively establishing nests in Busan is because of Busan's unique cluster industrial policies and incentives, and the management advantages and growth potential of companies based on these.
* Busan City investment attraction performance: ('21.) KRW 2.2 trillion, employment of 8,362 people → ('22.) KRW 3 trillion, employment of 6,030 people →
(End of October 23) KRW 3.9 trillion, employment of 8,416 people
□ The central government's designation of various special economic zones and districts is also providing strong support for Busan City's new industrial map reform. Among them, the Yoon Seok-yeol government's ambitious 'Opportunity Development Zone' and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport's 'Urban Convergence Special Zone'.
○ ‘Opportunity Development Special Zone’ is one of the key means of balanced regional development and is a project that promotes local investment and relocation of excellent companies with unconventional incentives that are differentiated from existing ones, such as tax reductions, special regulations, financial support, and improvement of residential conditions. The city is already suggesting 'finance', 'power semiconductors', and 'secondary battery-mobility' among future new industries as special zone models, seeking to maximize the synergy with industry clusters.
○ The 'Urban Convergence Special Zone' is a project to create youth-centered industrial, residential, and cultural spaces in the center of the city. In Busan, Centum 2 District, Haeundae-gu, was selected as the special zone target in 2021. As an important axis of the 'Digital Innovation Base' in the East Busan region, it is steadily taking a leap forward into a new industrial ecosystem hub through 'innovation and shared growth'.
○ In addition, ‘high-tech investment district’ within Myeongji District, ‘urban high-tech industrial complex’ such as Centum District 2, ‘special research and development zone’ with a total of 14 square kilometers (㎢), and ‘blockchain, marine mobility, and ammonia’ Three-dimensional overlap between already designated special economic zones such as 'Regulation Free Special Zone', 'Research Industry Promotion Complex', and Mieum/Jisa 'Foreign Investment Zone', and various special economic zones such as 'Global Innovation Special Zone' and 'National High-Tech Industrial Complex', which are currently in the process of being newly designated. With the designation, ‘industry-specific comprehensive gift sets’ tailored to the needs of companies and youth are appearing throughout the city.
□ The future of industrial map reorganization centered on new industries is brighter. This is because excellent talent, which is the seed for new industrial guidance and quantitative and qualitative growth, continues to be cultivated through 'local industry and science' cooperation.
○ A virtuous cycle ecosystem of industry-academia cooperation, where companies gather young people and talented people, and young people and talented people bring back excellent companies, is on track, centered around 68 regional industry-academic cooperation branches, and the Ministry of Education's 'Regional Innovation Centered University Support System (RISE)' ' With the designation of a pilot area and a glocal university, cutting-edge talent suitable for Busan is expected to spring up like water.
○ If a large number of quality jobs based on new industries are created based on excellent talent and companies, it is expected that young people will work and settle down in Busan without leaving Busan, breathing new vitality into the Busan economy.
□ It is also encouraging that Busan City is steadily continuing its efforts to advance industries by cluster and discover Busan-style next-generation food. We are reorganizing the 'Busan City Strategic Industries' on a 5-year cycle, and are also intensively discussing ways to discover and foster 'Busan-type future high-tech industries' that will drive Busan's future growth, and are working to come up with specific results in the second half of the year.
□ Busan Mayor Park Hyeong-jun said, “Regional innovation clusters will become new industrial power plants that create synergies by organically combining hardware centered on companies and infrastructure (infrastructure) and software centered on talent and technology.” “Befitting the name of Busan, we will do our best to ensure that young people, talented people, and companies are bustling and boiling over in the cauldron called Busan as soon as possible,” he said.
Source: Busan Metropolitan City