By Yoon Ja-young
A Korean version of Silicon Valley in the U.S. will be built in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, to nurture start-ups as the country’s new growth engines. It aims at enabling anyone with innovative ideas to start their own business by providing one-stop full-support service.
The government unveiled the blueprint for Pangyo Techno Valley II at an economy-related ministers’ meeting held at Pangyo, southeastern Seoul, Monday. Innovative growth is one of the two main pillars of the Moon administration’s economic policy along with income-led growth.
“As seen in Silicon Valley in the U.S. and China’s Zhongguancun, it is crucial to set up an innovation center to form an ecosystem for start-ups and venture companies,” Strategy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said.
“For job creation and growth, innovation is needed in all businesses, both economically and socially,” he added.
Pangyo Techno Valley II will be built on 430,000 square meters of land by 2022. Pangyo already harbors many IT companies. It is home to over 1,300 businesses as of the end of the last year, with their total sales surpassing 77 trillion won and employing 75,000 people.
The previous Park Geun-hye administration had announced a master plan to develop Pangyo into a “creative economy valley” back in 2015, but it was mostly about real estate development. There is criticism that it lacks software to support start-ups or facilitate communication between entrepreneurs
According to the government plan, Pangyo Techno Valley II will be developed to have a competitive edge against start-up incubators overseas. Pangyo will be the place where anyone can start their own business as long as they have an innovative idea.
It will provide work space for around 1,400 start-ups so that entrepreneurs can concentrate on realizing their innovative ideas without having to worry about high rent.
Those with innovative ideas will receive one-stop services, ranging from protection and realization of their technology, financial consulting, to advancing into overseas markets. They will be able to test their new innovations in new industries such as IoT, drones, self-driving cars, and healthcare.
Pangyo’s infrastructure will be improved for young entrepreneurs, with more roads built to link the techno valley with other key areas and rental homes and short-term residences provided so that young workers can enjoy stabilized housing near their work.
The government also plans to nurture Pangyo Valley as a leading smart city. It will adopt all smart city technologies, such as smart transportation including car sharing and smart parking, a new system enhancing electrical energy efficiency, and technology for smart work environment
Pangyo Techno Valley II will be Korea’s incubator for self-driving technology and research. There will be the first self-driving shuttle bus to operate in the residential area, running between Pangyo Station and the techno valley. It will be equipped with a self-driving monitoring system and facilities to run simulation tests based on big data.
At the ministers’ meeting, the government also announced plans to overhaul its procurement system in a move to open doors wider for start-ups, SMEs and social enterprises. The government plans to pull up the ratio of start-ups and venture companies in procurement to 70 percent from 50 percent. Social enterprises will also get extra points when they bid for government orders.