Wando-gun Strengthens Expertise in Marine Healing and Marine Bio in Partnership with France

Published 04 Mar.2024 10:07(KST)

Establishing a Cooperation System for Marine Healing and Marine Bioindustry with a French Marine Healing Specialist Company

Jeonnam Wando-gun (Governor Shin Woo-cheol), which opened the nation's first Marine Healing Center, is accelerating efforts not only to lead the marine healing industry and establish differentiated strategies but also to revitalize the marine bioindustry.

According to the county on the 4th, on the 1st, a business agreement was signed to promote marine healing and strengthen expertise at the Valdys Roscoff Center, a French marine healing specialist company, attended by Shin Woo-cheol, Governor of Wando-gun, Heo Gung-hee, Chairman of the Wando County Council, and Yves Diard, CEO of Valdys.

Roscoff, located in the northwest of France, where county officials visited, is the region where the world's first marine healing therapy began in 1899.

Valdys, which signed the business agreement with Wando-gun on this day, is a specialized marine healing company founded in 1960 in Douarnenez. It started with the Roscoff marine healing facility and has acquired and expanded thalassotherapy centers in Pornichet and Saint-Jean-de-Monts.

On the 1st, a business agreement was signed with Valdiz, a French marine healing specialist company, to promote marine healing. <br>[Photo by Wando-gun]

On the 1st, a business agreement was signed with Valdiz, a French marine healing specialist company, to promote marine healing.
[Photo by Wando-gun]

At the Valdys Roscoff Resort, programs using seaweed massage, seawater underwater bicycles, underwater gymnastics, and seawater mist are operated on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Recently, they have also started eco-friendly cosmetics and skincare businesses, attracting customers continuously not only from nearby areas but also from abroad. France is globally renowned for cosmetics made from natural ingredients.

Last year, Wando-gun exported cosmetics using seaweed to five overseas countries. To introduce Korean seaweed materials to the French cosmetics market and explore future utilization plans, they visited famous cosmetics companies BCM (Bretagne Cosmetiques Marins) and Phytomer.

BCM is a marine cosmetic company specializing in producing and manufacturing cosmetics using seaweed as raw material and owns the global representative spa brand Thalion.

Phytomer, established in 1972, is a naturalistic skincare luxury brand that produces high-end marine cosmetics exclusively for spas through seaweed land farming and product development at its own research institute using eco-friendly production methods.

The county proposed exchanging ideas on utilizing Korean seaweed by showcasing 10 types of cosmetics developed in Wando and 4 types of regionally specialized resource cosmetics used at the Marine Healing Center.

Additionally, to introduce sports rehabilitation functions within the Wando Marine Healing Center, they visited the Normandy Rehabilitation Medicine Center to check the operation status of rehabilitation treatment programs such as seawater pools.

The Normandy Rehabilitation Medicine Center is a specialized center for musculoskeletal and neurological diseases, converted in 1967 from a luxury hotel built in 1911, utilizing the unique marine environment for rehabilitation.

It mainly treats joint patients and brain disease patients and has a swimming pool dedicated to joint treatment using seawater and seaweed powder that helps reduce pain. Last year, 4,000 patients received 25,000 treatments.

Governor Shin Woo-cheol said, “Through this business agreement with the French marine healing specialist company, the expertise of the Wando Marine Healing Center program, the first of its kind in Korea, is expected to be further strengthened by transferring marine healing programs and technical know-how.” He added, “Furthermore, cooperation with overseas specialized institutions in marine bio and cosmetics development is expected to create synergy in Wando-gun’s marine bioindustry.”