Aiming to Become a Global Leader in Dental Industry: Busan Holds Dental Industry Support Committee Meeting

Four Key Strategies:
Business Development, Talent Cultivation, Market Expansion, and Infrastructure Building

Busan City is aiming to become a global leader in the dental industry sector.

On July 25, Busan City (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced that it held the "2025 Busan Metropolitan City Dental Industry Support Committee" meeting at City Hall in the afternoon, where it discussed this year's plans to foster the dental industry and strategies to attract the National Dental Research Institute.

This meeting was organized to seek systematic support measures for making the dental industry, which is currently transitioning into a high value-added industry based on digital technology, a new growth engine for Busan. Representatives from industry, academia, research, and medical sectors attended to focus on discussing actionable policy tasks.

Busan City established the nation's first dedicated dental industry organization in 2017, enacted related ordinances in 2018, and has operated the Dental Industry Support Committee since 2019, thereby laying the foundation for policy development.

This year's reported "2025 Dental Industry Fostering and Support Plan" presents the vision of "Busan, a Global Leading City in the Dental Industry," and will promote four major strategies and eight detailed projects: fostering companies, nurturing talent, expanding market access, and building industrial infrastructure.

Through initiatives such as the "Digital Transformation Technology Platform Construction" and "Smart Environment Improvement for Dental Laboratories," the city will support prototype production, testing and certification, and the establishment of digital infrastructure. Busan will also strengthen on-site talent capabilities through hands-on training in new technologies.

In addition, by hosting the "Busan Digital Dental Exhibition (BDEX)" and supporting participation in domestic and international exhibitions, the city will strengthen the expansion of market access and the foundation for global advancement for local companies. Busan is actively working to attract the National Dental Research Institute and plans to seek synergy effects by linking this with the construction of an industrial cluster in the future.

The second agenda item addressed strategies for attracting the National Dental Research Institute. Kim Ho, principal researcher at the Busan Institute of Science and Technology Promotion (BISTEP), shared the achievements of previous attraction activities, trends in government policy, and future schedules, and discussed collaboration strategies with attendees.

As of the first quarter of this year, Busan has around 1,800 related institutions in operation, including 1,353 dental hospitals and clinics and 485 dental laboratories. A total of 5,188 people are employed in the sector, making it the third largest in the country after Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Eleven universities, including the Busan National University School of Dentistry, are also contributing to the training of specialized professionals.

Lee Joonseung, Deputy Mayor for Administrative Affairs of Busan City, emphasized, "The dental industry is a next-generation strategic industry that will drive advanced medical care and the digital healthcare industry," and added, "We will continue to implement sustainable support policies so that Busan can become the center of the global dental industry."

Busan City Hall.

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