The Seoul metropolitan government will nurture five traditional manufacturing clusters within the city, including the jewelry center in Jongno, the fashion and garment center in Dongdaemun, small-sized printing shops in Eulji-ro, the medicinal herbs market in Jegi-dong, and shoe-making shops in Seongsu-dong.
A high-ranking Seoul city government official said on April 26, "In order to encourage downtown manufacturing industries, the Seoul city government will begin instituting the 'Manufacture Seoul' initiative from the second half of this year." The new program is modeled after the Manufacture New York initiative taken by the city government as a way to revive the flagging fashion industry in the city.
As part of the new support program, the city government will earmark budgets to create specialized manufacturing clusters in the five downtown areas. In addition, it will establish business support centers and R&D centers in each location. The government will also lend support to training the workforce while helping the firms strengthen their marketing and promotion capabilities. Earlier in January this year, the Seoul city government had presented a plan to revitalize old city centers by fostering indigenous industries.
