Busan City Takes Action to Save 'Seodong Small Clothing Manufacturers'

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Selected for '2020 Small Manufacturers Shared Infrastructure Project'
29 Billion KRW Invested to Establish Seodong Apparel Manufacturing Industry Innovation Growth Hub
Resolving Apparel Manufacturing Small Manufacturers

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The Seodong clothing cluster area in Geumjeong-gu, Busan, which produces 70% of the school uniforms nationwide, has been selected as a target for support for small manufacturers, and the clothing industry is expected to regain vitality.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has finally selected Busan's "Seodong Clothing Manufacturing Small Manufacturer Support Project" in the "2020 Small Manufacturer Joint Infrastructure Construction Project" contest.

The Small Manufacturer Joint Infrastructure Construction Project aims to revitalize small-scale manufacturing by organizing and promoting collaboration among small manufacturers in manufacturing industrial clusters with high labor intensity based on skilled technology. It is a project supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to create joint infrastructure for small manufacturers.

Busan City has been operating the Clothing Manufacturing Small Manufacturer Specialized Support Center since 2013 to revitalize the clothing manufacturing industry and strengthen the competitiveness of sewing small manufacturers.

In 2017, Beomil-dong was designated as an urban-type clothing manufacturing small manufacturer cluster, and through expansion and remodeling of existing buildings, the "Beomil Clothing Manufacturing Support Center" was established and has been actively operated since this year.

Based on this experience, the city planned the project through cooperation with clothing manufacturing small manufacturers in Seodong, Geumjeong-gu, conducting surveys, collecting residents' opinions, and signing agreements with related organizations. From the preparation stages including on-site evaluation and presentation evaluation by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to the final selection, great effort was made, resulting in the selection of the "Seodong Project."

The city will invest a total budget of 2.93 billion KRW (1.5 billion KRW national funds, 1.37 billion KRW city funds, 60 million KRW private funds) by 2023 to build a three-story Seodong Clothing Manufacturing Small Manufacturer Support Control Tower.

Plans include operating a smart pilot factory and shared equipment room, supporting product development such as new technology education and prototype production using special advanced equipment, supporting joint sales and market development linked with marketers, and operating flea markets and health promotion programs for sewing workers.

The clothing manufacturing dense areas of Seodong and Geumsa-dong in Geumjeong-gu are semi-industrial zones where Geumsa Industrial Complex is located. Based on low-wage labor, 172 small manufacturing sewing companies with about 700 workers are clustered, producing outsourced products for nearby finished clothing companies such as Seojeong and Parkland, and producing 70% of the nationwide four major brand school uniform volumes through OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) mass production.

However, due to poor working conditions, labor shortages caused by aging, and decreased orders due to overseas relocation of production facilities, growth has been constrained, leading to continuous demands from the clothing industry for infrastructure establishment.

Byun Sung-wan, Acting Mayor of Busan, said, "With the selection of this project, a growth ladder has been established for the sewing industry to develop as a central part of the local economy as an urban manufacturing industry."

Mayor Byun added, "We will support the Seodong area to develop into the only global sewing cluster in Korea capable of small-variety mass sewing by improving productivity, expanding orders, increasing the added value of the sewing industry, and creating new markets."