Gwangju Metropolitan City will be actively fostered as a global stronghold of the optical-based convergence industry, the vice mayor of the city said.
In an interview with Korea IT Times, Gwangju Metropolitan City Vice Mayor Kang Gye-doo said that the government designated a land covering 1,873 square meters in Gwangju City and Jangseong-gun as a special zone for research and development (R&D) on Jan. 24, 2011.
"The Gwangju R&D Special Zone will play a locomotive role in leading the regional economy by 2015 through knowledge creation, spread of technology and business start-ups," Kang said. "From optical electronics, automobiles, information & home appliances, green energy and culture content industries, we will select core technology sectors and designate them as a specialization target to intensively foster them," he said.
At present, there are three special R&D zones - Daedeok Special Zone, Gwangju Special Zone and Daegu Special Zone. Daedeok Special Zone will be developed into a global hub of the high-tech convergence industry, and Gwangju Special Zone will be fostered as a global stronghold of optical-based convergence industry. Meanwhile, Daegu Special Zone will be reborn as a global stronghold of the IT-based convergence industry."Gwangju Special Zone will be developed centering on the four special fields _ next-generation optical-based convergence, environment-friendly automobile parts & materials, smart care home appliances, and next-generation batteries," the vice mayor said.
The next-generation optical-based convergence includes 3D convergence, optical information & communication, LED/OLED, optical materials, lasers, optical medical instruments, nano and bio sectors. Environment-friendly automobile parts & materials cover clean diesel and electric car parts & materials, and smart care home appliances mean smart home systems and home appliances & medical robots. Meanwhile, next-generation batteries include solar batteries, secondary batteries, and hydrogen fuel batteries.
Differentiated strategy of Gwangju R&D Special Zone
Vice Mayor Kang said, "Gwangju City will establish a differentiated strategy, which is widely different from strategies propelled by other special zones, in order to contribute to rapid growth of the regional economy."
"First of all, we will foster a complex-type research estate covering research and production simultaneously to create a virtuous circle connecting creation of research results with spread of technology and business start-ups," he said. "We can also secure sites for factories and research centers at a low price as most of the special zone is in the greenbelt area. Along with this, we will foster the Gwangju Special Zone as the Korea-China-Japan open-type international cooperation estate in which researchers from the three countries can participate in," said the vice mayor.
Asked about the expected effects of the Gwangju Special Zone, the vice mayor said, "Enormous amount of support funds, including those for R&D projects, will be financed from state coffer. Research centers and high-tech companies in the zone will also enjoy tax favors, including three-year exemption of income and corporate taxes. "On a long-term basis, we expect KRW15 trillion worth of economic effects and creation of some 30,000 jobs through the Gwangju Special Zone," he explained.
Kang also said, "A joint study cooperation system linking Daedeok, Gwangju and Daegu special zones will be established to activate the special zones, especially in 3D, lasers and optical sensor sectors." Noting that Daedeok Special Zone is equipped with advanced infrastructure, he said, "Gwangju City will double its efforts to expand infrastructure in the special zone."
The following are excerpts from an interview with Gwangju Metropolitan City Vice Mayor Kang Gye-doo.
Q: Would you introduce the blueprint of the Gwangju R&D Special Zone
A: We plan to actively foster the Gwangju R&D Special Zone as a global stronghold of the optical-based convergence industry.
We will select core technology sectors from optical electronics, automobiles, information & home appliances, green energy and culture contents industries, and intensively foster them.
We will also adopt a differentiated strategy to help the special zone contribute greatly to the growth of the regional economy. In particular, we will make a strong push for creating a virtuous circle, which will spread technology and business start-ups.
Q: Would you comment on the city's strategy for globalization of the optical industry
A: The keyword of the future industry is convergence. Optical technology, a core convergence technology, is the most promising environment-friendly green technology in an era of industry convergence.
During the three years from 2009 to 2011, the city will inject approximately KRW50 billion into projects to develop a variety of convergence products among optical, shipbuilding, agro-bio, automobiles, IT, medical services, environmental and ocean sectors.
At the same time, we will expand new growth engines in the optical industry through technology development related to optical sensors, infrared lenses, and lasers.
Q: What do you think is the merits of Gwangju City as a region suitable for investment compared with other cities
A: As the city's merits, we can pick the following five factors - offering of industrial land at a very cheap price, integration of top-class research institutions & excellent research ability, enough supply of excellent manpower, settlement of stable labor-management culture & corporate-friendly environment, and assistance of top-level corporate administrative services.
In particular, we can offer high-quality industrial technologies by producing some 50,000 professional researchers, including 5,600 bachelors, masters and doctors, annually.
Q: Gwangju City has created a sole optical industry cluster in Korea by actively fostering the industry for a decade. Would you introduce the achievements of the project to foster the optical industry
A: In the R&D infrastructure field, we integrated relevant research and support institutions, including Korea Photonics Technology Institute, and built a marketing assistance system.
In the human infrastructure field, about 460 professional researchers are working at optical-specialized institutions. Graduate schools and industrial high schools established a manpower fostering system.
Along with this, the optical industry cluster has emerged as a core industry of the regional economy in terms of employment and sales. The sales of the industry soared from KRW110 billion in 1999 to KRW1.6 trillion in 2009, and further to KRW2.5 trillion in 2010. The number of employees in the industry also surged from 1,900 in 1999 to 6,870 in 2009, and again to 8,004 in 2010. The number of companies also rose from 47 to 346 and further to 360 during the corresponding period.
