Gu Ja-yeol, Chairman of Muhyeop, "Will Expand Support for Regional 'Open Innovation'"

Gyeongbuk Province and Companies Sign 'Gyeongbuk Enterprise Open Innovation Support MOU'

Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (right), and Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement to support open innovation between Gyeongbuk companies and startups on the 28th at the COEX Startup Branch in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Korea International Trade Association]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), emphasized that "in the era of convergence based on the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data, companies located in regional areas must lead change through innovation to secure competitiveness."

According to KITA on the 29th, Chairman Koo signed a "Business Agreement for Supporting Open Innovation between Gyeongsangbuk-do Companies and Startups" with Gyeongsangbuk-do at the COEX Startup Branch in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the previous day. He stated, "Until now, open innovation has mainly spread among large and medium-sized enterprises in the metropolitan area," adding, "With this business agreement as an opportunity, we will expand support for open innovation to companies located in regional areas."

Through this business agreement, KITA will support open innovation and Proof of Concept (PoC) for companies in the Gyeongbuk region, while Gyeongsangbuk-do will identify testbed demands from public institutions and private companies to facilitate cooperation among enterprises.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, said, "Manufacturing-based companies in Gyeongbuk, such as automotive parts, displays, and wireless communication devices, have great interest in open innovation," and promised, "Based on the 66 billion KRW fund recently established at the provincial level and KITA's open innovation platform, we will comprehensively support the innovation of Gyeongbuk companies."

Companies wishing to collaborate with the seven participating firms?Ecopro GM (secondary battery materials), Welltural Bio (food), Halk (electric vehicle driving range improvement heating control technology), CTNS (customized secondary battery packs), Ninano Company (heavyweight drones), VisualCamp (AI gaze tracking solutions), and AimBee Lab (IoT-based smart farm technology)?can propose collaboration through KITA and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Economic Promotion Agency.

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