Creative economy: Springboard for Korea's leap forward

By Choi Yang-hee

Korea is faced with a number of daunting global issues ranging from a low birthrate and population aging to low growth and unemployment. In a bid to tackle the problems, the Park Geun-hye administration has been working hard to transform the nation from a fast follower to a creative first mover.

The effort by the government is best embodied in the creative economy initiative, where ingenuity of the people and convergence of science, technology, ICT and culture will come together to deliver new growth engines, markets, jobs and, ultimately, economic prosperity.

The concept of the creative economy was first envisioned in the “Creative Economy Action Plan” in June 2013, shortly after President Park’s inauguration. By September 2013, Creative Economy Town, an online platform that helps translate creative ideas into businesses, was started. Within the span of a year from September 2014 to July 2015, 17 Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation (CCEIs), matched with globally renowned Korean companies, were rolled out across the nation to serve as an offline platform spearheading regional innovation and entrepreneurship. CCEIs offer a wide range of practical support encompassing legal, financial and patent-related services, coupled with mentoring, investments, clients and overseas expansion opportunities provided by Korean conglomerates.

CCEIs have already created a propitious environment for starting a business, demonstrated by an increasing number of incubated companies, prototype development, training and startup clubs.

Indeed, CCEIs began to bear fruits. A 4-year-old venture company specializes in textile design program saw a 40-fold growth in revenue within one year since it employed CCEI’s services. Another prime example is a 5-year-old venture that was on the brink of bankruptcy, despite holding 27 patents. Tapping into the knowhow and funding of a CCEI partnered conglomerate, however, enabled the company to sign a contract to supply 300,000 pedals per annum to American electric car maker Tesla Motors.

CCEIs are already in the global limelight, being modeled after by Saudi Arabia and Brazil. They signed an agreement with Korea to emulate the Korean-style creative economy. The president of Honduras, after his visit to the Busan CCEI in July 2015, highly regarded the centers model and directed that setting up centers with similar purpose at his home country should be examined.

Admittedly there is still a lot more to be done and a long way to go. Inauguration of the centers for regional innovation marked a beginning of a new era. The task now at hand is to ensure CCEIs deliver results in full force. To that end, the government is planning on expanding the CCEI services to allow more people with promising ideas to turn them into viable businesses. Another part of the plan is to enhance regional CCEIs’ partnerships with Culture Creation and Convergence Belt and Employment and Welfare Plus Centers to effect regional innovation and create decent jobs that can attract talent.

CCEIs are forecast to lay a sound foundation for Korea’s next leap forward when they enlist more regional organizations in providing support, and encourage community driven innovation.

When Korea has an overflowing pool of audacious entrepreneurs armed with ingenuity and passion, the creative economy initiative will genuinely be dubbed a successful policy that pulled Korea out of the economic growth stuck in low gear.

The writer is the nation’s science, ICT and future planning minister.