Minister Lee So-young “Start-up city should go beyond designation and become a real start-up base”

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, emphasized on the 15th that it is important not only to designate start-up cities, but also to create a virtuous cycle in which the designated cities are activated as actual start-up bases and the results go to the region and young people.

Minister Lee said at an on-site meeting on the 'Startup City Creation Project' held at the Nanotechnology Institute of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon on this day, "It is important for the government to designate 10 or 20 startup cities, but in the end, the designated startup cities should be much more active than before as startup bases."

He continued, “Daejeon City’s role is really important to create a structure where many people can start a business and become successful, and this can create a virtuous cycle for the region and young people.”

At the same time, he asked Daejeon to actively suggest areas that require government support or should be considered together in promoting the startup city development project.

Minister Lee said that in particular, competition among local governments across the country to attract six additional startup cities scheduled for the second half of this year is fierce.

He said, “Three weeks after taking office, I felt that there were a lot of demands and expectations from all regions regarding the selection of additional startup cities,” and added, “I have never received so many calls even while working in the National Assembly.”

He said, "In the first half of this year, four cities, including Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan, were selected as start-up cities, and among them, Daejeon will be the first to take the lead."

Minister Lee also emphasized, "Daejeon is a city with a solid foundation for start-ups, including excellent science and technology, research personnel, and research institutions. When these strengths are organically connected around start-ups, Daejeon's own competitive start-up ecosystem can be created."

He went on to ask for the active participation of local innovation entities, saying, “Startup cities are not created through the efforts of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups or Daejeon City alone, but are projects created jointly by universities, research institutes, investment companies, and large corporations.”

Minister Lee added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will continue to communicate with the field and actively support the establishment of a start-up ecosystem where regional strengths lead to start-ups and corporate growth.”

At the meeting attended by Daejeon City, KAIST, Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center, and start-up company officials, attendees suggested expanding investment and infrastructure and improving systems for the growth of start-up companies and their settlement in the region.

In particular, we requested that local public institutions and hospitals first purchase innovative products from start-up companies to secure initial sales and delivery performance, and create a long-term investment fund in high-tech fields where investment recovery takes a long time.

In addition, opinions were expressed that it is necessary to provide support for establishing a corporation for prospective entrepreneurs, expand joint manufacturing facilities, and prepare support measures to prevent the outflow of excellent talent to the metropolitan area.

In addition, it was suggested that if a start-up company changes its business direction, government support projects should be operated flexibly accordingly.

Daejeon ranks 296th in the world in the global startup ecosystem rankings and ranks first among domestic non-metropolitan cities. It has a rich research and technology base, including KAIST, Chungnam National University, Daedeok Research and Development Special Zone, and government-funded research institutes.

In order to connect these strengths to startups, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected Daejeon as a startup city last April and is pursuing a project to upgrade the local startup ecosystem.

The start-up city creation project is not just about increasing the number of start-ups, but is also a project that creates an environment where start-ups can start, grow, and settle in the region by organically connecting local start-up resources such as talent, funds, investment, and infrastructure.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has currently designated four cities, including Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan, and plans to issue a notice to select six additional cities within this month.

Through this, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to expand the number of startup cities to 10 across the country and gradually expand startup bases based on regional strengths and specialized industries.