Pyeongchang, widely regarded alongside Salt Lake City as one of the most successful Winter Olympics hosts, is now nurturing ambitions to become a green biotech research and industry hub in the mold of Boston.
Pyeongchang serves as the research, startup and technology commercialization anchor of the Gangwon V-Valley — a corridor linking raw materials, research, startups, technology commercialization and a science and technology village for Gangwon Province's green biotech industry. About 10 billion won ($6.82 million) in combined public-private and central-local government funding will go toward the initial infrastructure.
The centerpiece of the project is a green bio venture campus being developed within Seoul National University's Pyeongchang campus, Pyeongchang-gun said Wednesday.
The venture campus has entered the final stage of structural framing and is taking shape as a base facility that will support research, demonstration, startup incubation and technology commercialization for future tenants.
Pyeongchang-gun said it is drawing up an operating strategy and detailed action plan to ensure the venture campus functions not merely as office space but as a practical business support platform where SNU's Green Bio Science and Technology Institute (GBST), Gangwon Technopark, research institutions and companies work together.
To help employees of venture campus tenants and young startup talent put down roots in the area, Pyeongchang-gun is pushing ahead with a green bio youth living house project that will provide stable residential infrastructure for the science and technology community.
The living house is preparing to break ground after completing detailed design work. Linked to the venture campus, it is intended to give researchers and startup workers a residential base from which to live and operate in the region.
Pyeongchang-gun is also strengthening internal execution capacity. To sustain uninterrupted development of the green biotech industry, it has designated a dedicated specialist post for strategic industry development, establishing a system to deepen the expertise and continuity of the staff responsible.
This year, for the first time, Pyeongchang-gun plans to hold a "Pyeongchang Green Bio Night" event from Sept. 17 to Sept. 18.
The event is being organized as a gathering of green biotech companies, research institutions, universities, support agencies and local government from inside and outside the county to discuss prospects for technology development, commercialization, investment and collaboration. Through the event, the county aims to expand Pyeongchang's green biotech network and build an industry community where companies and researchers can connect even before the venture campus is completed.
abc@heraldcorp.com
