'Green Bio Cluster' to be Established in Yeoncheon Area

Business Agreement for the Creation of the Green Bio Cluster in Northern Gyeonggi

The creation of the ‘Gyeonggi Northern Green Bio Cluster’ centered in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province, is expected to gain momentum.

On the 4th, Gyeonggi Province announced on the 5th that it signed a ‘Gyeonggi Northern (Yeoncheon) Green Bio Cluster Development Memorandum of Understanding’ at Yeoncheon County Office with Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Provincial Economic Science Promotion Agency, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Dongguk University, CTC Bio Co., Ltd., NeoKen Bio Co., Ltd., Korea Genetic BioPharm Co., Ltd., Woori Technology Co., Ltd., T&L Co., Ltd., and Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

The Green Bio Cluster development is an industrial complex promoted by Gyeonggi Province to enhance bio-industry competitiveness by adding Yeoncheon to the existing bio clusters in Suwon Gwanggyo, Siheung, Goyang, and Paju.

Green Bio is a new industry that applies agricultural life science technology (Green) to biotechnology (Bio) to create added value across agriculture and related upstream and downstream industries. It broadly includes agricultural materials, functional agricultural products, food ingredients, seed improvement, plant vaccines, biodiesel, as well as the development of health functional foods using agricultural products.

According to the agreement, each organization will cooperate in various fields such as ▲ development and industrial activation of the Gyeonggi Northern Green Bio Cluster ▲ attraction of Green Bio companies ▲ establishment of industry-academia-research-government networks ▲ institutional improvements for fostering the Green Bio industry.

Yeoncheon-gun will invest 30 billion KRW from 2024 to 2028 to build an Industrialization Support Center on a 7,586㎡ site within Yeoncheon BIX (Euntong General Industrial Complex) and promote the expansion of cultivation of Yeoncheon’s specialized crops such as hemp (industrial hemp), ginseng, adlay, and large oats. In addition, it will actively work on training Green Bio specialists in cooperation with universities and on necessary legal and regulatory reforms to revitalize the Green Bio industry.

Previously, Yeoncheon-gun promoted a feasibility study for the Industrialization Support Center and has been pushing forward cluster development since March this year by forming a dedicated task force (TF) with experts, companies, and Gyeonggi Province.

Gyeonggi Province will work with Yeoncheon-gun to operate the Industrialization Support Center and participate in national public projects. Participating companies will conduct research and product development together with Yeoncheon-gun.

Oh Hu-seok, Deputy Governor for Administration of Gyeonggi Province, said, "The bio-industry is a key driver of South Korea’s economic growth, and Yeoncheon, which possesses abundant natural biological resources including the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) ecological environment, is the optimal location for the Green Bio industry. We will leverage the growth engine of northern Gyeonggi to lead innovative growth not only in Yeoncheon but across South Korea."

Gyeonggi Province is currently developing regional bio clusters to secure global competitiveness in the bio-industry, including the Gwanggyo Bio Innovation Belt (southern region) and Siheung Medical & Bio Cluster (western region), and plans to expand these to northern regions such as Goyang, Paju, and Yeoncheon.

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