Busan Blockchain Special Zone Awareness Hits Red Light, Half of Related Companies ... 'Completely Unaware'

Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] On the 13th, the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced the results of a ‘Corporate Awareness Survey on the Busan Blockchain Regulatory Free Zone’ conducted on 465 blockchain companies nationwide.

According to the survey, nearly half of domestic blockchain companies, 48.2%, responded that they were completely unaware that Busan had been designated as a blockchain regulatory free zone.

The proportion of respondents who said they had only heard the name reached 21.1%, confirming that awareness of the Busan blockchain free zone is actually very low.

Despite this low awareness, there were many positive opinions regarding business promotion in Busan.

21.7% of companies expressed an intention to pursue business, and 38.6% said they would consider business promotion if incentives were guaranteed. On the other hand, companies with no intention at all accounted for 39.8% of the total responses.

Overall, although the positive proportion for business promotion in Busan was high, the evaluation of Busan’s blockchain industry ecosystem was cold.

In comparison between the metropolitan area and the Busan blockchain free zone, Busan was found to be lacking or having no particular advantages in most areas.

Regarding the business environment, 54.8% said it was insufficient, and 43.4% responded that there were no particular advantages.

In terms of talent pool, technology, and information accessibility, 53.6% responded that these were insufficient, and despite being a regulatory free zone, even the investment environment and industrial ecosystem did not receive favorable evaluations.

Regarding the recently highlighted ‘Blockchain Industry Promotion Agency’ and ‘Digital Asset Exchange,’ there were generally expectations for a positive role.

Regarding the Blockchain Industry Promotion Agency, 84.9% believed it would serve as an opportunity to support companies, expand synergy within the free zone, and secure industrial stability.

Regarding the establishment of a digital asset exchange being promoted in Busan, 86.1% anticipated positive effects such as securing funds, expanding free zone incentives, ensuring the reliability of virtual assets, and synergy with the financial industry.

Regarding virtual assets, which have recently become an issue due to investment volatility problems such as the Luna incident, 66.3% of companies responded that they are an important factor for blockchain industry development.

The Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry analyzed, “Regarding the role of virtual assets, 48.2% viewed them as a core business tool, and 26.5% saw them as a means to expand ecosystem participation, indicating that positive consideration of virtual asset businesses within the free zone seems necessary.”

A representative from the Busan Chamber’s Corporate Trend Analysis Center said, “Since the blockchain industry is still in its early stages, regulatory barriers must be boldly lowered to create industrial added value through various ventures and attempts, as befits a regulatory free zone,” and added, “For the Busan blockchain free zone to properly establish itself, a strategy to create an industrial ecosystem through the agglomeration of domestic related companies, breaking away from the existing demonstration project framework, must be pursued simultaneously.”

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