'Leading Companies and Local Firms Thrive Together' at Bucheon Daejang Industrial Complex... "Pursuing Major Industrial Transformation"

Building the "Bucheon-Style R&D Cluster" to Transform Fiscal and Industrial Structures
Four Leading Companies, Including Korean Air and SK Hynix, Sign Occupancy Contracts
Securing 26 Billion Won in Annual Local Corporate Income Tax... Fostering a Virtuous Economic Cycle
Incentives for Local Firms to Encourage Symbiotic Growth

Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province has launched a major transformation by developing the Bucheon Daejang Urban High-Tech Industrial Complex into an “Advanced R&D Cluster” where leading companies and local firms can thrive together, aiming to change both the city’s industrial landscape and fiscal structure.

Bucheon has grown based on more than 13,000 small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. However, the absence of leading companies that create high added value has led to structural challenges, such as a decline in fiscal self-sufficiency and the outflow of young people. To address these issues, the city regards the advanced research and development (R&D) industry as a key foundation for attracting highly skilled talent and ensuring sustainable growth. The plan is to build a symbiotic growth structure by combining traditional local manufacturing with the R&D of leading companies, centered around the Bucheon Daejang Industrial Complex.

Aerial view of Bucheon Daejang Urban High-Tech Industrial Complex. Provided by Bucheon City.

According to the occupancy strategy for the Bucheon Daejang Industrial Complex, established in 2024, the city has designated advanced manufacturing and knowledge-based service industries as the primary sectors and will focus on attracting advanced R&D research centers in fields such as urban air mobility (UAM), eco-friendly energy, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart manufacturing. The city will also benchmark successful cases like Pangyo Techno Valley and Magok Industrial Complex, where leading companies moved in first to enhance the brand value of the industrial complex, followed by the voluntary clustering of small but strong enterprises and partner firms.

So far, four leading companies—Korean Air, SK Innovation, SK Hynix, and DN Solutions—have signed contracts to move into the Bucheon Daejang Industrial Complex. Early occupancy has been secured for about 130,000 square meters (39,000 pyeong), which accounts for 36 percent of the industrial site area.

These companies plan to invest a total of 2.6 trillion won in the fields of aviation mobility, energy, semiconductors, and precision machinery, and will gradually establish research facilities between 2029 and 2031. Approximately 3,700 advanced researchers with master’s and doctoral degrees are expected to work on site. Bucheon City estimates that the annual local corporate income tax generated by these companies will be about 26 billion won, which amounts to 56 percent of the city’s total current local corporate income tax revenue.

The city intends to reinvest the increased tax revenue into upgrading aging industrial areas and supporting local companies, thereby creating a virtuous economic cycle of “tax revenue growth—industrial advancement—job creation.”

In addition, recognizing the high barriers for local companies focused on traditional manufacturing to move into the urban high-tech industrial complex, the city plans to strengthen phased occupancy strategies and incentives that encourage joint growth between leading companies and local firms.

First, among the 27 remaining plots in the Bucheon Daejang Industrial Complex, phased occupancy rights will be granted to leading companies with annual sales of 150 billion won or more for 11 plots, each over roughly 6,600 square meters (2,000 pyeong), forming the backbone of the advanced R&D cluster. Starting in the second half of next year, the city will consider greatly relaxing the sales criteria and giving additional points to local companies for the 16 remaining plots, each under about 6,600 square meters.

A Bucheon City official stated, “Given the characteristics of the urban high-tech industrial complex, it is difficult for traditional manufacturing companies to move in immediately. We will address this by combining R&D from leading firms with the technologies of local manufacturers, thereby raising the overall level of the local industry and creating high-quality jobs. We will steadfastly pursue the ‘Bucheon-style Industrial Transformation’ that simultaneously changes the industrial landscape and fiscal structure, based on the advanced R&D cluster.”

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