Wando-gun is the 'Optimal Location' for Investment in Marine Bio and Marine Healing Industries

Published 15 Nov.2021 14:26(KST)

Hosting Ontact Investment Briefing, Highlighting Wando's Strengths

Wando County is holding an ontact investment briefing. Photo by Asia Economy

[Wando＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil] Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do, held an on-tact investment briefing session on the 12th at the Marine Climate Healing Center to promote the strengths of the marine bio and marine healing industry location.

According to the county on the 15th, about 200 people, including members of the Korea Bio Association and entrepreneurs, participated through ‘Eutteum Jeonnam Tube’.

The investment briefing session explained the investment environment for the Wando marine bio and healing industry in Wando-gun, the current status and prospects of the Jeonnam marine bio industry at the Jeonnam Marine Bio Research Center, and the promotion strategy for fostering the marine bio industry at the Chosun University Marine Biology Education and Research Center, followed by a Q&A session.

This was the second on-tact briefing session held by Wando-gun, following the online investment briefing session for the marine healing industry held in June.

On this day, five marine bio and marine healing experts participated and proposed the development direction of Wando-gun’s marine bio and healing industry through online Zoom, covering topics such as the value of the marine bio and marine healing industries, ways for marine cities to overcome local extinction, and plans for high value-added industrial fields utilizing Wando seaweed.

The county plans to expand public facilities such as the Marine Healing Center and private facilities worth 1 trillion won, including marine healing leisure resorts and golf theme parks, by 2030 to revitalize the marine healing industry.

They have completed patent registration for about 60 products such as health functional foods specializing in seaweeds like kelp, hijiki, and sea mustard, and are also doing their best to establish a marine bio industry foundation by building certified production facilities for active seaweed materials.

Once the marine bio research complex is established, they plan to attract 10 corporate research institutes and 30 startups to support companies’ product development to commercialization in connection with the marine healing industry throughout the entire process.

In particular, they are focusing on research to verify and commercialize the COVID-19 inhibitory effects of seaweed recently published in a famous academic journal.

An Hwan-ok, the marine healing officer, said, “Wando is a region where the sea and forest harmonize, and it is a natural area recognized worldwide, including as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.” He added, “Wando, which is the optimal place for the seaweed-specialized marine bio industry to the extent that NASA introduced it under the title ‘Green Harvest of Korean Waters,’ will do its best to build a marine bio and healing industry foundation so that corporate investment can be made.”