Daejeon City, Daedeok-gu Pyeongchon-dong to Establish 'Smart Innovation District'

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City is developing the Pyeongchon District in Daedeok-gu as a ‘Smart Innovation District.’ The Smart Innovation District aims to strengthen the competitiveness of local companies by establishing a smart platform that companies can jointly utilize in the deteriorated small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) concentrated area.

On the 30th, the city announced that it was recently selected for the ‘Public-Private Cooperation SME Smart Innovation District Development Project’ announced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The total project cost for the public contest is 10.5 billion KRW, of which 4 billion KRW will be supported by national funds. According to the selection results, the city plans to establish a smart platform that companies concentrated in the Pyeongchon District of Daedeok-gu can jointly use from next month until the end of December next year.

The project’s core is to remodel the site to create a smart manufacturing joint platform including precision processing, post-measurement processing, prototype production, metal 3D printers, a post-COVID joint platform such as AR/VR studios and non-face-to-face meeting systems, and a network collaboration space, enabling 200 companies in the machinery and metal sectors within the Pyeongchon District to jointly utilize these facilities.

Previously, the city participated in the contest as a co-host with Daedeok-gu. In addition, companies such as Jin Hap Co., Ltd., regional university-industry cooperation foundations of Chungnam National University, Hanbat National University, Hannam University, ETRI Technology Convergence Workshop, Daejeon Job Economy Promotion Agency, and Daejeon Technopark participated as cooperating organizations to propose the project.

The Pyeongchon District in Daedeok-gu played a central role in the Daejeon economy by accounting for a significant portion of regional manufacturing production and employment in the 1970s and 1980s. However, it is currently home to about 400 small and micro enterprises and is considered an area in need of factory and industrial innovation due to poor infrastructure and weak industrial innovation foundations.

Ko Hyun-deok, Director of the City’s Job Economy Bureau, said, “The city plans to lead the change and development of the Pyeongchon District by linking the Smart Innovation District development project with the designation of the Pyeongchon-dong Root Industry Specialized Complex and the construction of the Engineering Center.” He added, “Based on this, we will revitalize the deteriorated Pyeongchon District, promote the mutual growth of surrounding companies, strengthen the technological competitiveness of local companies, and activate the regional economy.”

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