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Daegu Contents Business Center.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yeo Jong-gu] The opening ceremony of the Daegu Content Business Center (DCOE), which will serve as a foundation for content companies and talent development in the Daegu area, will be held on the 22nd.

Daegu City has developed the nation’s first model combining business incubation facilities and startup support housing to improve the living conditions of content companies and support innovative growth.

Since 2018, a total of 30 billion KRW, including 10 billion KRW in national funds and 20 billion KRW in local funds, has been invested to complete DCOE in August. Following the opening ceremony, full-scale operations will begin next year.

Since 2002, Daegu City has operated the Daegu ICT PARK, a top-level innovative cultural industry cluster nationwide. However, with the return of leased space in 2018, difficulties were anticipated in linking existing achievements to further development, prompting the search for alternatives.

In 2016, Daegu City collaborated with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to develop a specialized model combining business incubation facilities and startup support housing for the first time nationwide, breaking ground in December 2018 on the site of the former Smart Venture Campus.

DCOE has a total floor area of 17,032㎡, with 5 basement floors and 17 above ground. The business incubation facilities occupy 10 floors (B5 to 5F) and include 29 company offices, one content showroom, one shared office, four neighborhood stores, an underground parking lot with 129 spaces, and various business support facilities. The startup support housing consists of 12 floors (6th to 17th floors) with 100 units.

With the opening of DCOE, Daegu City has completed a step-by-step foundation for the local content industry, linking creation and startup (Content Korea Lab), growth support (Content Enterprise Support Center), and fostering small and strong enterprises (DCOE).

Additionally, over the next five years, Daegu plans to invest a total of 43.5 billion KRW to nurture the content industry, aiming to produce 10 Daegu-type prospective unicorn companies, 1,500 content innovation talents, and 40 companies entering the global market.

Since October this year, DCOE has recruited resident companies in two rounds, selecting companies for 20 of the 29 company offices, including the Global Game Center, with 15 companies moving in. The remaining 9 offices will be filled through ongoing recruitment.

Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin stated, “Sales and growth of local game companies are expanding,” adding, “We plan to promote full-scale content industry development policies to make Daegu the largest content company hub outside the metropolitan area.”

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