Gwangju Region's Photonic Convergence Industry Shows Remarkable Growth Trend

Achieved Regional Sales of 2.4787 Trillion KRW Last Year... 7.7% Increase Compared to 2018

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 6th that the 2019 statistical survey and analysis of the optical convergence industry in the Gwangju area showed remarkable growth in sales increase and job creation.

According to the regional optical convergence industry market statistics, ▲sales amounted to 2.4787 trillion KRW, an increase of 7.7% compared to the previous year ▲employment reached 7,802 people, an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year ▲the number of companies was 284, an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous year.

The annual sales growth rate was -12.8% in 2014, -4.7% in 2015, and -4.6% in 2016, then slightly increased from 2017, showing the highest recent growth rate of 7.7% last year.

In particular, the number of optical convergence industry companies achieving sales of over 10 billion KRW increased remarkably by 37%, from 27 companies in 2018 to 37 companies last year.

Sales growth by sector was ▲optical communication sector at 516.5 billion KRW, up 17.1% from the previous year ▲optical source and optoelectronic device sector at 1.0365 trillion KRW, up 11.4% ▲optical instruments sector at 614 billion KRW, up 4%, in that order.

The optical communication sector showed the highest sales growth rate in 2019 due to the commercialization of 5G technology, and notably, PPI Co., Ltd. was listed on the KOSDAQ market on December 26 last year, achieving significant results.

The optical convergence industry has been fostered as a regional strategic industry since 2000, establishing itself as a representative local industry through remarkable growth and steady growth until 2013. However, due to internal and external conditions and intensified market competition with emerging countries such as China, sales sharply declined and growth recently slowed.

Since the enactment of the “Act on Support for Optical Convergence Technology Development and Infrastructure Establishment” in September 2018, Gwangju City declared 2019 as the first year of the optical convergence industry’s leap forward by expanding to eight major sectors and promoting various policies.

By establishing an industry-academia-government cooperation system and through joint efforts of regional innovation research institutions such as the Korea Photonics Technology Institute, core technology development and commercialization support were achieved, along with systematic corporate support such as overseas marketing by the Korea Photonics Industry Promotion Association, and optimized roles performed by each institution.

Last month, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy designated the Korea Photonics Industry Promotion Association as the dedicated organization for optical convergence technology promotion and the Korea Photonics Technology Institute as the specialized research institute for optical convergence technology, enabling more systematic government-level support.

Furthermore, Gwangju City plans to focus on realizing high added value for companies utilizing optical convergence technology through active national fund discovery, including the advancement of optical convergence industry linked with optical base technology, and creating technology-intensive future new industries such as optical ICT and optical medical technology.

Lee Chi-seon, Director of the Future Industry Policy Division of the city, said, “The growth in 2019 is a very meaningful achievement as a catalyst for a leap forward,” and added, “We will strive to foster the optical convergence industry as a core industry of the 4th Industrial Revolution based on this foundation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.