Mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon.

Seoul City has declared its intention to develop the Hongneung area as a bio cluster to create an economic development complex where some 5,000 scientific technology workers can dedicate their research. Up-and-coming scientists will be nurtured for the future development of science technology that is equipped with all kinds of infrastructure to be the top bio cluster in the country.

The city announced earlier this year that it will invest 500 billion won in the bio cluster to build four new structures, including one for R&D activities and another structure for global cooperation by 2021, determining that the bio industry has important added-value when it comes to the medical industry that will usher in the 4th Industrial Revolution, producing medical equipment and medicine.

The city then will pursue the construction of a BT and IT fusion center, and a high-tech medical equipment development center in 2020 and 2021.

Hongneung is surrounded by top scientific institutions, such as the Korea Institute of Science Technology and a number of universities and their medical clinics, such as Korea University Hospital and the Kyunghee Medical Institute. Some 5,000 people with doctorate degrees work for those institutions, taking charge of R&D activities valued at around 1.5 trillion won.

Seoul City’s plan to nurture the development of the Seoul bio area in Hongneung is timely, considering the fact that the economy has been negatively impacted by a number of global factors, including the U.S.-China trade friction, Korea-US trade impasse and THAAD issue, which combined to slow exports of Korea’s major items such as steel, microchips and automobiles.

The plan will work when it gets a full support from Seoul City and the government to spur the new industry. Government around the world are looking for new growth engines in the age of smart factories, with AI and the Big Data boosting productivity.

The Netherlands captured the world’s food market by developing Nestle in its food clusters, while Singapore attracted pharmaceutical research firms and plants to its Bio Plus Industrial Complex, doubling the share of those industries in its GDP.

Seoul City will share Big Data with industry, research, medical clinics and academies in the region to lead the reform in the bio medical areas. Seoul, with over 10 million residents, should go all out to reform its regulations and design special areas to spur R&D activities and train personnel in cooperation with the government.

The vision of Seoul City’s Four-Year Municipal Plan (2019-2022), drawn from discussion and deliberation with experts and public officials, is “Seoul, where my life is happy, Seoul where citizens are the host.” The three main government keynotes are On the scene; Innovation; and Balance.

This will continue following the government constitution involving “innovation, governance, communication” to continue to tackle the city’s challenges while solving the problems of citizens’ lives.

As revealed in the “2019 New Year’s Address,” “economic revitalization” will be Seoul City’s top priority. The project will focus on revitalizing economic democracy and innovative entrepreneurship under a difficult economic outlook to solve the problems of citizen living and create a future engine for growth.

An aerial view of the Medical Cluster in Hongneung, Gyeonggi Province. (Photos: Seoul City)