Chungnam Selected as 'So-Bu-Jang Specialized Complex'... Establishing a Technology Independence Hub

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A 'Materials, Parts, and Equipment Specialized Complex' will be established in Cheonan and Asan, Chungnam.

Chungnam Province announced on the 27th that the 'Chungnam Display Materials, Parts, and Equipment Specialized Complex' was finally selected in the designation contest for specialized complexes at the 6th meeting of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Materials, Parts, and Equipment Competitiveness Enhancement Committee.

Since June last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has conducted a designation contest for materials, parts, and equipment specialized complexes. After reviewing 12 specialized complexes from 10 local governments that participated in the contest, five regions were designated as materials, parts, and equipment specialized complexes: ▲Chungnam Display ▲Gyeonggi Semiconductor ▲Chungbuk Secondary Battery ▲Jeonbuk Carbon Materials ▲Gyeongnam Advanced Machinery.

The designation of materials, parts, and equipment specialized complexes is a Ministry-led project to build supply chains centered on high value-added core items in order to proactively respond to the reorganization of the global value chain (GVC).

With the designation of the specialized complex, Chungnam can promote the creation of a cross-government materials, parts, and equipment innovation ecosystem specialized in the display field. Companies located in the specialized complex will be subject to regulatory exemptions related to environment and labor, such as the Chemical Substance Registration and Evaluation Act and the Chemical Substance Control Act.

The materials, parts, and equipment specialized complexes in Chungnam are planned to be established on a total area of 6,956,354㎡ across six industrial complexes: ▲Cheonan 2nd General Industrial Complex ▲Cheonan 4th General Industrial Complex ▲Cheonan 3rd Industrial Complex Foreign Investment Zone ▲1st Asan Technovalley ▲2nd Asan Technovalley ▲Asan Smart Valley.

Following the designation of the specialized complex, the province plans to derive key cultivation items in the OLED and future display fields and support resident companies according to four types and strategies.

The cultivation strategies by type are classified as ▲Region-led (items with many related companies within the region) ▲Inter-regional linkage (items with many related companies nationwide) ▲Global cooperation (items with domestic related companies but weak original technology) ▲Attracting overseas investment (items with high import dependence).

The province plans to nurture 90 specialized display materials, parts, and equipment companies by 2029 along with the establishment of the specialized complex. It also expects to attract investments worth 150 billion KRW and create approximately 8,200 new jobs.

Currently, there are a total of 221 display companies operating in Chungnam, whose sales amounted to 22.9 billion USD as of 2019. The sales of companies in the region account for 52% of domestic sales and 21.2% of global sales.

An official from the province stated, “Through the display materials, parts, and equipment specialized complex, we will increase the localization rate of core materials, parts, and equipment to stabilize the supply chain and establish a technology independence hub based on win-win cooperation. In particular, we will strive to take the lead in developing next-generation core technologies for future displays by linking with the ongoing 528.1 billion KRW display innovation process platform construction project.”

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