Busan City Invests 14.2 Billion KRW to Foster Converged Sports Industry

Recruitment for 121 Customized Corporate Supports at Busan Technopark until the 13th
This Year Focuses on 3 Areas: Marine Sports, Sports Healthcare, and Rehabilitation Sports

Busan City Hall exterior view.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City has begun recruiting companies to participate in a convergence sports industry development project that supports growth from startup to global enterprise in the fields of marine sports, sports healthcare, and rehabilitation sports.

To implement the "Regional Convergence Sports Industry Hub Development Project," selected through a public contest by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation last year, the Busan Technopark Sports Convergence Business Group has started recruiting a total of 121 customized support targets by the 13th.

The project aims to create new jobs in the sports industry by integrating ICT & smart healthcare technologies, promote related industries, and revitalize the local economy. It supports and nurtures small and medium-sized enterprises in Busan to continuously grow from the startup stage to the global enterprise stage. This is a four-year project from last year to 2022, with a total investment of 14.2 billion KRW from national and city funds.

In the first year of the project last year, 125 support projects were carried out for 51 companies, achieving notable results in a short period, such as creating 76 new jobs and a 14.6% increase in sales compared to the previous year.

This year, the second year of the project, Busan City subdivided the project into three fields: "marine sports," "sports healthcare," and "rehabilitation sports." To discover companies and provide focused support, a one-stop corporate support system is being established according to the growth stages of companies, including startup incubation team development, prototype stage support, productization stage support, and commercialization stage support.

Kim Bae-kyung, Director of the Culture and Sports Bureau of Busan City, said, "Through this project, we plan to strengthen the support system to create a virtuous cycle ecosystem for the sports convergence industry and lead it as a new growth engine industry for the local economy."

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