‘Busan Research and Development Special Zone Re-designation’ Approved by Ministry of Science and ICT R&D Special Zone Committee Review

Designation Changes Including Daejeo Advanced Complex, Centum General, Centum2, Eco Delta City, Yeongdo-gu Stem Village Added

Spatial Reorganization Centered on Western Busan Global Growth Axis and Eastern Busan Scale-up Innovation Axis, Focused De

Busan City announced that the ‘Busan Research and Development Special Zone Re-designation’ applied for to the Ministry of Science and ICT last August has finally passed the review by the Ministry’s R&D Special Zone Committee on the 23rd.

The city pursued the zone re-designation to reorganize the space centered on two major growth axes: the Western Busan Global Growth Axis (Daejeo Advanced Complex District) and the Eastern Busan Scale-up Innovation Axis (Centum), and to intensively foster specialized fields.

The ‘Busan Special Zone’ was designated in November 2012 as the fourth after Daejeon, Gwangju, and Daegu, aiming to establish an R&D-based innovation cluster centered on Busan’s marine industry infrastructure such as shipbuilding, marine, and ports, as well as universities and research institutes in the shipbuilding and marine fields like Korea Maritime and Ocean University and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Research Institute.

Since then, in 2021, under the Ministry of Science and ICT’s ‘4th Comprehensive Plan for R&D Special Zone Development,’ the specialized fields of the Busan Special Zone were expanded and adjusted from the existing shipbuilding and offshore plant equipment, marine plant engineering and services, and green marine machinery to include shipbuilding and offshore plants, marine resources and bio, ICT convergence mechanical systems, and smart parts and materials to respond to Busan’s strategic industries.

Currently, the Busan Special Zone consists of Busan Science Industrial Complex, six universities (Dongmyung University, Dong-A University, Dong-Eui University, Pukyong National University, Busan National University, Korea Maritime and Ocean University), Mieum District, Phase 1 of the International Industrial Logistics City, and Noksan National Industrial Complex. With this re-designation, Daejeo Advanced Complex District, Centum General Industrial Complex, Centum 2 Urban Advanced Industrial Complex, Eco Delta City Urban Advanced Industrial Complex, and Yeongdo-gu STEM Village have been added.

▲ The Daejeo Advanced Complex District will establish an R&D-based shipbuilding and marine innovation cluster ▲ Centum General Industrial Complex and Centum 2 Urban Advanced Industrial Complex will be developed as ICT convergence technology commercialization hubs ▲ Eco Delta City Urban Advanced Industrial Complex will focus on next-generation sensors and renewable energy technology development linked to smart city projects ▲ STEM Village will be developed as a regional industry-academia cooperation hub for marine resources and bio R&D and technology commercialization.

Currently, the occupancy rate of companies in the Busan Special Zone reaches 98%, and the startup incubation centers of each university are also saturated at 98%, creating a need for new spaces for company settlement. This re-designation is expected to greatly assist companies wishing to move into the special zone.

R&D Special Zones are areas established under the ‘Special Act on the Promotion of R&D Special Zones’ to promote R&D within the region’s universities, research institutes, and companies, activate mutual cooperation, and support the commercialization and startup of R&D outcomes to foster new technologies and disseminate R&D achievements.

Research institute companies and advanced technology companies within the special zones receive tax benefits such as exemption from corporate and income tax for three years, a 50% reduction for an additional two years, acquisition tax exemption, and regulatory exemptions for new technology demonstrations. Additionally, the Ministry of Science and ICT supports about 10 billion KRW annually in corporate R&D funds and special zone funds as measures to strengthen regional industrial competitiveness and improve the corporate structure centered on R&D.

Based on industry-academia-research cooperation, the Busan Special Zone achieved 3,252 technology transfers and 53.3 billion KRW in technology transfer fees as of 2021 (cumulative) through discovering and transferring excellent public technologies and commercializing public technologies. The number of resident companies and institutions increased from 580 at the time of designation in 2012 to 1,237.

The annual sales of resident companies reached 7.7 trillion KRW, and the number of employees reached 31,000. Also, this year, 10 new research institute companies were established, and two advanced technology companies were newly designated, bringing the total to 219 research institute companies and 15 advanced technology companies established and designated to date.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “This re-designation is the first among the five special zones nationwide, and especially by adding Centum 1 and 2 districts, it will greatly help in providing focused support for ICT companies, early activation of the Centum 2 Urban Advanced Industrial Complex, and attracting advanced technology companies. Furthermore, the designation of the Daejeo Advanced Complex District and Eco Delta City Urban Advanced Industrial Complex as special zones is expected to enable balanced growth between Eastern and Western Busan,” he said.

Busan Research and Development Special Zone.

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