Rebirth as Digital IT Cluster
Rebirth as Digital IT Cluster
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  • 승인 2007.03.16 09:37
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In the 1960s and 1970s, Guro District, located in southwestern Seoul, the capital of Korea, emerged as a leader in the "Miracle on the Han River" serving as a mecca for labor-focused manufacturing industries such as textiles and needlework.

Today, the Guro District continues to maintain its reputation as the center of Korea's new economy and the home of the Seoul Digital Industrial Complex: a modern industrial park of venture, R&D, and knowledge and information industries. With its success in attracting these industries, the Guro District is rapidly developing into a hub for the digital economy in Korea.

Since the erection of the KICOX Venture Center on September 2000, the number of small and medium-sized IT companies has increased from approximately 712 companies to 6,074 companies as of the end of 2006 thanks to a rapid increase of apartment-model factories as well as the acceleration of cutting-edge industry. About the year 2008, this number is forecast to increase to approximately 7,000 companies.

Mayor Yang Dae-woong of Guro who stands at the hub of such initiatives, says: "This Seoul Digital Industrial Complex is expected to contribute to national development as the Orient's Silicon Valley since Seoul Digital Industrial Complex's traditional manufacturing disappears and mobile, semiconductor, digital content and city-model cutting-edge IT items forge the main current."

He further expected in an exclusive interview with the Korea IT Times that Seoul Digital Industrial Complex would be transformed into a research as well as design-centered complex such as reciprocal information exchange between university and companies and technology transfer owing to the network construction between education, industry, research and the government.

As part of efforts to reshuffle Guro Industrial Complex from past manufacturing- oriented industry structures to state of the art knowledge-based industry structures, it is said that the Guro district has been dividing itself into four cutting-edge information as well as knowledge-based industry blocks, according to Mayor Yang.

Hence, its first industrial complex of 136,926 pyung encompasses both venture start-ups and high level technology industries. In the second industrial complex of 119,722 pyung, fashion design, high level technology industries and the other knowledge- based industries are being arranged. The third industrial complex of 342,771 pyung includes high level technology industries, fashion design, and other knowledge- based industries.

Ambitious urban remodeling project

Concerning Guro District Office's support measures for the digital industrial complex, Mayor Yang mentioned first of all its administrative support.

To help Seoul Digital Industrial Complex companies, Guro District Office is operating its bidding information exclusive use homepage while on the other hand forging a good environment to do business by providing them with tailor-made bidding information befitting to the business field by companies in real-time through SMS.

Moreover, Guro District Office is operating a website which catalogs all companies within the Guro District, so that anybody can confirm company products within its District easily and purchase it. Through globalization's brisk exchange between cities of the world, Guro District Office is pioneering actively oversea markets, according to Mayor Yang.

As a result the District Office has pioneered overseas sales routes by composing overseas market pioneering delegation two times every year since 2003, 60 companies within its District has gained export contract outcome worth US$4.83 million by visiting 18 countries across six times, the Mayor said.

He confirmed that on May this year too, Guro District Office is scheduled to dispatch its delegation to India and Dubai in order to pioneer oversea market sales routes by selecting 12 companies within its District which produce competitive product in overseas market.

As regards efforts to accelerate cuttingedge digital industrial complexes through nurturing the rear city as well as improving surrounding environment, Mayor Yang explained: "The District Office plans to nurture 85,000 pyung in Garibongdong as a functional city which carries out the rear support of digital industrial complex."

He emphasizes that Guro District Office will allow this Digital Industrial Complex to serve as the 21st century cutting-edge mecca, among which convention centers, hotels, buildings for business, and environment- friendly dwelling town harmonize.

After finishing detailed execution plans and market services by July this year, its full-scale construction work is slated to be embarked from October 2009 with the goal of completion in the forthcoming 2012. Therefore, this place will become a head temple of complex function in which IT technology is researched, generated, product is manufactured, and sales goals are attained, Mayor Yang added.

By harmonizing hotels, accommodation facilities and leisure spaces harmoniously, he stressed that Guro District Office will accelerate cutting-edge digital industrial complex as a good mature space for state of the art companies to do business.

Furthermore, Guro District Office plans to smooth the traffic environment for logistic circulation without any deadlock by improving severed traffic circumstances between industrial complexes.

With regard to tax support, he introduced that the District Office helps venture startup companies who are suffering from financial difficulties by lending 200 million won (US$213,157) per company and 5 billion won (US$5.33 million) yearly at a low annual interest of 3%.

Marketing Guro to the world

Guro District Office attracted public attention by holding the first International Forum on Citizen Participation through egovernment at the Hotel Shilla at the beginning of February of this year for the first time for district office unit at home.

In conjunction with the District Office's hosting goal, Mayor Yang underlines: "Local governments must feel enormous responsibilities to reduce informatization gaps between cities and to improve public administration's quality by sharing diverse IT technology and experience between cities."

Through this Forum, the Mayor said: "Guro District Office intends not only to pave the way for local economy's activation by acquainting overseas markets with Korea's e-government excellence and cutting- edge IT technology. It would also make the human race's life to become prosperous by enhancing public administration service quality thanks to an impetus that shares world city's e-government experience and excellent examples.

Notably, this Forum highlighted the solution of informatization gap by adopting the Guro Declaration.

However, Guro District's Digital Industrial Complex has a long way to go to become an innovation cluster, according to experts. Thus, Guro District Office should dedicate even more effort to such urgent special manpower nurturing and fund support policy's epoch making improvement.


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