Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo: "Fostering Nano and Semiconductor Industries as Key Regional Core Industries"

On the 14th, Lee Jang-woo, Mayor of Daejeon, held a briefing at Daejeon City Hall to announce plans for establishing a nano and semiconductor industry ecosystem. At this event, Mayor Lee presented a blueprint to develop the nano and semiconductor industry as Daejeon's new core key industry. Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] “We will foster the nano and semiconductor industries as Daejeon’s new core key industries.” On the 15th, Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon presented this vision.

The city plans to promote the nano and semiconductor industries with three main strategies: ▲supporting companies through the establishment of a nano and semiconductor parts and materials verification evaluation center ▲building an industrial ecosystem through the creation of a nano and semiconductor industrial complex ▲providing technical support and training specialized personnel to strengthen global competitiveness.

First, the city aims to enhance the competitiveness of the local semiconductor parts and materials industry and pioneer the global market by establishing the verification evaluation center.

Daejeon has the advantage of utilizing top-tier domestic research institutions concentrated in the Daedeok Innopolis, such as the Korea Nano Technology Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, and Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, enabling support for technology and infrastructure. It is also easy to train specialized personnel by linking universities and research institutions like KAIST.

On the other hand, most nano and semiconductor companies in the region are parts and materials companies with high expertise but face difficulties in large-scale facility investment and research and development (R&D). For example, there are a total of 447 nano and semiconductor companies based in Daejeon, accounting for only 2.67% of the total related companies nationwide.

Accordingly, the city plans to establish the verification evaluation center to create an evaluation foundation in the nano and semiconductor fields, collaborate with government-funded research institutes for technology development, strengthen corporate competitiveness, and lay the groundwork for growth to pioneer the global market.

Additionally, the city intends to create a regional testbed to build a semiconductor parts and materials testbed, establishing a product evaluation foundation to support corporate growth.

Mayor Lee said, “The biggest difficulty for parts manufacturing companies is that they cannot test products domestically and have to do so abroad. However, once the verification evaluation center is established and operated, it is expected to reduce costs and time for local small and medium enterprises and increase opportunities to enter overseas markets by securing reliability in evaluation results.”

The city is also promoting the creation of a nano and semiconductor industrial complex to cluster promising companies and related businesses along the semiconductor value chain.

After establishing the industrial complex, the city’s blueprint is to attract semiconductor parts and materials industries and build related facilities such as nano and semiconductor parts and materials testbeds, thereby completing a nano and semiconductor-related industrial ecosystem in the region.

Furthermore, the city plans to expand R&D investment to strengthen next-generation semiconductor development capabilities and secure core technologies by utilizing government-funded research institutes such as the Korea Nano Technology Institute and ETRI. It also aims to achieve synergy across the nano and semiconductor industry by establishing a specialized workforce training system using KAIST, the Korea Nano Technology Institute, and the Daejeon-type parts and materials testbed.

Mayor Lee stated, “Semiconductors are a core element necessary to secure future technological competitiveness. At this time, when global semiconductor hegemony competition is intensifying, it is essential to prepare driving forces to foster related industries. The city will actively utilize regional strengths to enhance corporate competitiveness and strive to create many quality jobs through the establishment of a nano and semiconductor industrial ecosystem.”

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