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S Korea to spend US$57.4bn on industrial cluster

SEOUL - South Korea will spend a total of 66.5 trillion won (US$57.4 billion) on building infrastructure for industrial clusters over the next four years, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

It will also choose four strategic industries for each province in a bid to narrow the gap between the greater Seoul area and the provinces.

South Korea aims for balanced national development, according to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.

In a report to President Roh Moo-hyun, the ministry and a presidential panel on balanced national development outlined the first five-year plan aimed at fostering industrial clusters in tandem with the relocation of the administrative capital to the central region of South Korea.

Under the blueprint, South Korea hopes to develop at least two world-class industrial clusters similar to the United States' Silicon Valley within 15 years.

It plans to complete the necessary infrastructure by 2008.

"To finance the project, we will seek to attract private capital as well as tap into public funds," Commerce Minister Lee Hee-beom said.

The ministry plans to hold a hearing to gauge opinions before it presents the five-year plan for cabinet and presidential approval next month.

The industrial complexes being considered for the clusters are Changwon, Gumi, Ulsan, Banweol-Sihwa, Gwangju and Wonju as well as Daedeok Science Town and Osong Biotechnology Town in Chungcheong provinces.

The country's major industrial complexes now account for 72% of all exports and 38% of manufacturing industry employment.

(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)

Jun 18, 2004

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