To create the creative economy ecosystem in Chungcheongbuk-do, LG will open 29,000 patents and raise a venture fund to the tune of KRW150 billion. Also, LG affiliates, including LG Chem, will invest KRW1,600 billion over a 3-year period to invigorate the local creative economy.
The LG Group announced this plan at the launching ceremony for the Chungcheongbuk-do Creative Economy Innovation Center held at the Chungcheongbuk-do Knowledge Industry Promotion Agency in Ochang, Chungcheongbuk-do on February 4. President Park Geun-hye, Lee Si-jong governor of Chungcheongbuk-do, Koo Bon-moo chairman of LG and the CEOs of over 140 local small and medium-sized venture firms were present at this ceremony.
LG will install the ‘IP Support Zone’ which shares patents with local small and medium-sized venture firms. Here about 29,000 patents, including the 27,000 patents owned by LG and the 1,600 patents of 16 government-funded research institutions, will be opened for free or at minimal costs. Among them, 3,058 patents will be transferred to small and medium-sized venture firms free of charge. The patent areas include bio, beauty and energy, earmarked for the Chungcheongbuk-do area, as well as electronics, chemistry and communication.
In the IP Support Zone, patent experts will be permanently stationed to help small and medium-sized venture firms use their technologies and the transferred patents to create new technologies and services. LG is planning to gradually increase the number of patents and turn the IP Support Zone into the ‘national IP hub.’
The company will also work for the convergence between the beauty, bio and energy industry and the technologies of LG. It will develop star venture firms in K-Beauty, K-Bio and Zero-Energy that will be successful in overseas markets.
With the aim of making inroads into the greater-China market, K-Beauty will support development of raw materials for cosmetics and product planning. LG Household & Health Care will operate a network for developing cosmetics based on medicinal crops of Chungcheongbuk-do and take advantage of the cosmetics evaluation research center and the big data analysis platform to help them with overseas expansion.
K-bio will be linked to the Osong High-tech Medical Complex. It will organize the bio mentor team consisting of current and former experts, and help small and medium-sized venture firms with their technology development and commercialization.
LG will also make efforts to create the Zero-Energy ecosystem, i.e. make environment-friendly residential space. In Jincheon, Chungcheongbuk-do, the company will build the test house in the Zero-Energy testbed and provide Zero-Energy technology. Zero-Energy is a concept that encompasses the production of photovoltaics and high-insulation ESS (energy storage system) products. A total of KRW1,600 billion will be invested in the water treatment facilities in LG Chem’s Ochang plant, OLED materials and LG Hausys’ Cheongju high-insulation building and decoration materials facilities over a 3-year period.
LG will provide the funds and ideas for invigoration of local startups. The company will raise a venture fund worth KRW150 billion jointly with Chungcheongbuk-do, the Financial Services Commission and the Small and Medium Business Administration. Also, it will open the ‘Idea Open Market’ so that small and medium-sized venture firms as well as prospective entrepreneurs can refer to the ideas of LG employees. The Idea Open Market comprises the ideas suggested in ‘LG-Life,’ an internal portal of LG. Ideas appropriate for SMEs will be opened. LG will also operate the Active Woman Business Center to help career-interrupted women find jobs.
“The Chungcheongbuk-do Creative Economy Innovation Center will funnel large corporations’ R&D and funds into Chungcheongbuk-do’s bio industry infrastructure, and play a central role in the convergence of SMEs and venture firms’ ideas,” said President Park. “With the innovation center playing the pivotal role, we will transform the bio SMEs of Osong into star SMEs in new medicines and medical devices and turn Osong into the mecca of the bio industry.”