Regulatory Free Zones, Synergy through Win-Win Connections... Promoting Inter-Industry Cooperation and Commercialization (Comprehensive)

Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Launch Regulatory Sandbox Win-Win Connection Ceremony on 27th
Information Sharing and System Improvement Response Among Similar Business Zones
Public Procurement Service to Collaborate with Naver Cloud and Others

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is taking a commemorative photo after completing the 'Win-Win Connection' launch ceremony, which involved finishing the symbolic sculpture of the cooperation network with representative special zone companies from six collaborative fields at the 'Regulatory Free Special Zone Win-Win Connection Launch Ceremony' held on the 27th at the Seoul Central Post Office in Jung-gu, Seoul.

(From left) Jeon Seok, CEO of Grida Energy; Kang Hyunjin, Vice President of Seum Construction; Cho Byungok, Executive Director of Wonik Materials; Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Lim Chunhwa, Deputy Director of Eulji University Institute of Biomedical Science; Park Junghwan, CEO of Meju; Kang Chanho, CEO of Unmanned Solution.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A new cooperative network called "Sangsaengieum," which creates synergy between regulatory free zones and promotes market entry of demonstration projects, has been launched.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the Sangsaengieum launch ceremony on the 27th at the Seoul Central Post Office located in Jung-gu, Seoul, to strengthen linkage and cooperation between regulatory free zones.

According to the Ministry, since the first free zone was designated in July 2019, a total of 32 free zones have been designated nationwide to date. There has been a need to share demonstration know-how in similar business areas among the zones and to spread excellent cases to later zones to promote performance creation.

Accordingly, through Sangsaengieum, information will be shared with participating institutions from other zones conducting demonstrations in related fields, and joint responses will be made when revising related systems.

Sangsaengieum consists of six new industry divisions: non-face-to-face medical treatment, autonomous driving, electric energy, hydrogen, human-derived materials, and carbon dioxide resourceization. Representatives from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, local governments, and companies involved in demonstrations in each field participate.

The division heads are △ Park Jeong-hwan, CEO of Meju (non-face-to-face medical treatment) △ Kang Chan-ho, CEO of Unmanned Solution (autonomous driving) △ Jeon Seok, CEO of Grida Energy (electric energy) △ Cho Byeong-ok, Executive Director of Wonik Materials & Hong Dong-hee, Vice President of Hyrium Industry (hydrogen) △ Im Chun-hwa, Professor at Eulji University Hospital in Daejeon (human-derived materials) △ Kang Hyun-jin, Vice President of Seum Construction (carbon dioxide resourceization).

The Sejong and Gwangju free zones, grouped under autonomous driving, plan to jointly respond when revising systems such as the Passenger Transport Service Act and the Park and Green Space Act to promote autonomous driving projects. Specimens from the Daejeon Human-Derived Material Bank will be supplied and utilized by operators in the Ulsan Genome Service Industry Free Zone.

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is signing the Win-Win Connection MOU at the 'Regulatory Free Zone Win-Win Connection Launch Ceremony' held on the 27th at the Seoul Central Post Office in Jung-gu, Seoul.

(From left) Kim Tae-chang, Vice President of Naver Cloud; Lee Dal-hee, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongbuk Provincial Government; Lee Jong-wook, Administrator of Public Procurement Service; Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Kang Chan-ho, CEO of Unmanned Solution; Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus; Oh Kwang-hae, Director of Standard Policy Bureau, National Institute of Technology and Standards.

Cooperating institutions such as the Public Procurement Service, the National Institute of Technology and Standards, Naver Cloud, and LG Uplus also participate in the Sangsaengieum project. These institutions signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Sangsaengieum participating organizations to promote domestic and international market entry of products and services proven safe in the free zones.

Lee Jong-wook, head of the Public Procurement Service, stated, "The Public Procurement Service will actively support testing the performance of innovative products completed in demonstrations in the free zones in the public procurement market through the innovative procurement system and help build initial achievements."

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, "Sangsaengieum is not only a link connecting free zones nationwide but also a communication channel between free zones and external cooperating institutions. We will continuously discover and promote cooperative tasks for fostering new industries with external institutions."

He added, "We will expand the breadth and depth of cooperation to make Sangsaengieum a reliable and powerful platform that can be the result of your challenges and passion."

Meanwhile, prior to the launch ceremony, a policy forum was held to explore the institutionalization and development direction of non-face-to-face medical treatment. This forum, attended by medical, industrial, and government officials, was based on the safety verification results of demonstration projects in the non-face-to-face medical treatment free zones located in Gangwon Province and Daegu.

At the forum, opinions were shared between the government and industry regarding the institutionalization direction of non-face-to-face medical treatment using free zone demonstration achievements, as well as anticipated safety and effectiveness issues upon introduction.