Pohang City Accelerates Building Global Network for Startup Ecosystem Development with Switzerland's Basel University

City, Council, Handong University - Basel University Innovation Center Hold Business Agreement Ceremony

Promoting Mutual Exchange, Technology Transfer, and Joint Research between Researchers and Startup Companies

On the 17th, Pohang City and the Pohang City Council signed a business agreement with the 'Innovation Center of the University of Basel, Switzerland' and 'Handong Global University' to establish a corporate innovation park and startup ecosystem, embarking on building a global network.

From the left, Lee Dong-young, Head of the Corporate Business Division at Handong Global University; Schneider, Director of the Innovation Center at the University of Basel; Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; Baek In-gyu, Chairman of the Pohang City Council.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mayor Kang-Duk Lee of Pohang, Chairman In-Gyu Baek of the Pohang City Council, Schneider, Director of the Innovation Center at the University of Basel, and Dong-Young Lee, Director of the Corporate Business Division at Handong Global University, among others, who agreed to join forces in creating a global corporate innovation park and startup ecosystem.

The main contents of the agreement include ▲establishing cooperation bases at Pohang City and the University of Basel Innovation Center ▲expanding mutual exchanges of researchers and startup companies between the two regions ▲promoting technology transfer, joint research, and academic events ▲joint operation of startup hub acceleration programs.

In August, the city visited Basel to benchmark advanced innovation cases and engage in international exchanges with Switzerland, and as a result of discussions on mutual cooperation with the University of Basel, this business agreement was concluded.

The University of Basel, which signed the agreement, is the oldest prestigious public comprehensive university located in Basel-Stadt, Basel, Switzerland, and serves as the central institution of the industry-academia-research cooperation network in Basel, including bio companies and the Innovation Park.

Basel-Stadt, where the university is located, is home to the headquarters of global pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Roche, over 70 life science companies, and more than 200 research institutions, making it the largest bio cluster in Europe. It also hosts the Basel Innovation Park, an innovation platform jointly operated by the Swiss local government, companies, and universities.

Pohang City has many similarities with Basel, as it houses leading new industry companies in secondary batteries, bio, hydrogen fuel cells, and possesses excellent infrastructure such as POSTECH, Handong Global University, and third- and fourth-generation synchrotron accelerators.

Additionally, the city is attracting a leading corporate innovation park project similar to the 'Swiss Innovation Park' through an industry-academia-research convergence-type corporate city development project led by private companies and local governments, centered on regional universities.

Through this business agreement, the city plans to establish a global cooperation system for the corporate innovation park, expanding opportunities for local companies and startups to enter the global market, and accelerating the creation of Pohang's bio startup ecosystem through exchanges with Basel, a world-renowned bio city, in the bio and medical fields.

It is expected that the innovation capabilities of both cities, which possess excellent industry-academia-research infrastructure, will create great synergy through cooperation in advanced technology fields such as bio and in small and venture sectors.

In particular, as local ventures and startups have recently gained significant attention through external awards and government project wins, the city plans to seek practical linkage and support measures at the corporate level through this agreement and expand global networking.

Mayor Kang-Duk Lee said, “We will apply Switzerland’s advanced model, which overcame geographical limitations similar to ours through talent development and technology investment to achieve innovation, to Pohang, aiming for the successful attraction of the corporate innovation park, realization of bio national defense, and advancement as a global city.”

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