[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Bank of Korea Gwangju-Jeonnam Headquarters (Head: Kim Yoon-ki) announced on the 28th that it held a regional economic forum under the theme "The Present and Future of Innovation Growth in Gwangju and Jeonnam."
This forum was organized to assess the level of innovation capacity inherent in the regional economy amid the trend of economic growth in Gwangju and Jeonnam slowing down due to low birth rates, aging population, and weakening employment creation power, and to academically derive innovative industries and promising items that can serve as a catalyst for future economic growth.
Dr. Heo Moon-gu, who presented at the forum, analyzed from the perspectives of innovation-based capabilities (people/education, R&D) and future industry-based capabilities (startups, new industries) that, centered on Gwangju, the education and startup environment are relatively favorable, but R&D investment and conditions for high value-added industries (knowledge-based and high-tech sectors) are poor.
Dr. Kim Yoon-soo introduced a methodology to measure inter-industry linkages by analyzing the forward and backward linkage networks of industries based on transaction activities of local companies.
During the designated discussion, various opinions were presented regarding the establishment of regional economic policy directions.
Considering the current realization of ultra-wide cooperation policies in non-capital regions, voices were raised emphasizing the need for Gwangju and Jeonnam to prepare for the era of innovation growth as an economic community, and that since innovation-led industries tend to be concentrated in manufacturing, it is important to expand to service industries and continue follow-up research.
The Bank of Korea Gwangju-Jeonnam Headquarters plans to strengthen its own research activities as well as exchange and cooperation with experts to promote the leap of the regional economy.
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