Gwangju City Promotes Pilot Project for Smart Appliances and Biomedical Industry

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 31st that it will promote pilot projects for smart home appliances and biomedical industries to achieve innovative growth in the 11 representative industries selected last year.

Gwangju plans to innovatively transform the support system for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to overcome the death valley between the technological development results of local SMEs and mass production, ensuring that research and development lead to sales and job creation, and to foster local industries centered on enterprises.

The pilot projects focus on two fields among the 11 representative industries where network construction and operation are smooth around local support organizations, and where intermediate goods (materials and components) can achieve relatively short-term results compared to other industries: smart home appliances and biomedical industries.

To this end, Gwangju decided to promote a commercialization support project for promising items linked to local demand and secured 600 million KRW in the supplementary budget (the 2nd supplementary budget).

Through this project, the city plans to expand the local procurement rate of intermediate goods currently procured from outside the region by local demand companies and to create a win-win cooperation ecosystem between large and small-medium enterprises.

Specifically, the project will be pursued through two tracks: an ecosystem strengthening type that supports items currently procured from outside but can be supplied by local SMEs within the region, and an ecosystem expansion type that supports items procured by demand companies outside the region but can be supplied by local SMEs.

Within one year, up to three materials and components that can be commercialized will be selected by industry, aiming for success in at least two items, and all stages for commercialization such as technology development, prototype production, certification, performance verification, and delivery will be supported as a package.

To ensure successful commercialization, dedicated support organizations will be designated for each industry, and project supporters from the staff of these organizations will assist all stages of commercialization. An operating committee and a performance management council will be established for business consultation and performance management to systematically manage the project.

Gwangju plans to recruit beneficiary companies through a public announcement early next month, conduct selection evaluations within the month, and begin support from July.

Details of the application and procedures can be found on the city’s website under City News > Notices and on the Gwangju Technopark website.

Son Kyung-jong, Director of the City’s Artificial Intelligence Industry Bureau, said, “We will nurture industries centered on companies by reflecting their demands and support fields where performance creation is possible. If the pilot project in 2020 confirms business performance, we plan to expand it to all industries through government recommendations and incorporation into the regional industrial promotion plan.”