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| Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon unveils a new economic growth plan for the city during a press conference at City Hall, Wednesday. /Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
The Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled a future growth plan Wednesday that will create more than 60,000 jobs by 2022.
Announcing Seoul's future innovative growth project, Mayor Park Won-soon said the city will spend 3.4 trillion won ($3.2 billion) toward achieving the goal of nurturing almost 10,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises and new companies.
"What Seoul now needs is not improving hardware as was the case in the past, but empowering people with potential," Mayor Park said in a press conference. "I project that Seoul in 2022 will be a place where people experiment and try things out and where new ideas create jobs and improve the lives of citizens."
The plan has several main pillars.
First, it will boost the fashion industry. It will support 100 companies that make shoes, clothes and jewelry. Once thriving, the fashion industry has slowed a lot in recent decades. The Seoul Fashion Innovative Hub which will open in Dongdaemun will connect all stakeholders in the fashion industry, from designers to retailers.
"I hope to see the made-in-Seoul brand becoming popular," Mayor Park said.
The city government will also push for biotechnology.
The Hoegi-dong and Sanggye/Chang-dong areas in northeastern Seoul will become a hub for biotechnology-ICT development. Seoul has already been pushing biotechnology through the Seoul Biotech Hub which opened last October. An old train garage in Chang-dong will serve as the main venue for that goal.
Research and development is another important pillar.
Magok Industrial Complex, Guro-gu and Yangjae-dong in southern Seoul will see R&D facilities that will serve diverse research fields.
Magok's facilities will support small- and medium-sized enterprises, while Guro-gu will support the internet of things (IoT). In Yangjae-dong, an R&D campus will host young researchers and companies specialized in artificial intelligence. Also, the R&D campus in Yangjae will have facilities for exhibitions and conventions.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) R&D will also receive city support.
Sangam-dong in western Seoul will have a center opened by 2021 to support VR/AR-related researchers and companies. Starting next year, new commercial display technologies will be tested at the center as part of a pilot project. The city plants to raise 1 trillion won in funds to support new companies in that field.
Animation is another field of interest.
The existing Seoul Animation Center on the slopes of Mount Nam will be renovated by 2022 to showcase the industry. In that neighborhood, the Seoul animation content factory will open to house animation-related startup companies.
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