Sejong City Promotes Designation as a 'Opportunity Development Zone' Focused on Cybersecurity

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City is pushing for the designation of a "Sejong-type Opportunity Development Zone" focused on cybersecurity.

According to the city on the 21st, an Opportunity Development Zone is an area designated through consultation between local governments and companies to promote investment outside the metropolitan area, and it is one of the key means of regional balanced development pursued by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

The ultimate purpose of designating an Opportunity Development Zone is to induce private capital and encourage companies to relocate to local areas through tax reductions, regulatory exemptions, and financial support to promote regional development.

Currently, 14 government ministries have relocated to Sejong to perform the function of the administrative capital, and the construction of the President's second office and the National Assembly Sejong building has been confirmed.

Considering the concentration of national administrative functions in Sejong, the city emphasizes that Sejong is the optimal location for "cybersecurity industry development" to protect national information security from cyber threats.

Based on this, the city plans to create hub spaces such as a cybersecurity industry development testbed and certification support center reflecting regional conditions, establish a professional workforce supply system, and foster the information security industry to attract companies and discover talent.

As detailed execution plans for the designation of the Sejong-type Opportunity Development Zone, "New Industry Development (type)" to attract companies and investments through joint campuses in industrial complexes, and "Innovation Campus Town (type)" to cultivate cybersecurity talent by utilizing information security departments and programs of nearby universities are proposed.

Along with the designation of the Opportunity Development Zone, the city envisions fostering the cybersecurity industry as Sejong City's future growth engine by linking government projects such as the Chungcheong Region Information Protection Cluster contest project and the Software Convergence Cluster 2.0 project.

Mayor Choi Min-ho of Sejong City said, "The Opportunity Development Zone stands out as a new growth engine for regional balanced development through unprecedented tax support and bold regulatory exemptions," adding, "The city plans to focus administrative power to enable the designation of the Sejong-type Opportunity Development Zone with an emphasis on fostering the cybersecurity industry."

Meanwhile, the city held the "4th On-site Special Committee Opportunity Development Zone Discussion" yesterday at the city hall's large conference room.

The discussion was hosted by the Special Committee on Local Investment and Industrial Development under the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development to share the current status of the Opportunity Development Zone and collect on-site opinions.

At the discussion, the city presented a blueprint for Sejong as a future strategic capital and appealed for the necessity of creating an Opportunity Development Zone based on the cybersecurity industry.