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According to Yonhap News,
(CHUNCHEON = Yonhap News) The Gangwon Province is set to kick off its plan to foster the “Healthy Aging industry” based on its bio technologies. The Healthy Aging industry is a new industry that consolidates the healthcare, life, leisure, tourism industries,
The province announced on March 12 that it will push ahead its plan to establish the “health and life healthy aging Cluster” in response to the government’s decision to include the healthy aging industry in its future development plan.
The province’s plan is to foster the region to become the mecca of the health and life industries by taking the Olympics Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 to associate the industries with leisure infrastructure, tourism resources and medical industry.
The province also boasts its convenient location from the metropolitan area of the population of 20 million as well as its clean image.
It plans to establish a pharmaceutical-oriented industrial complex and a nano & healthy aging-oriented industrial complex, and create a healthy aging industrial ecosystem under the government support to develop technologies and commercialize “wellness food.”
The healthy aging industry is a high-tech industry that creates added value by providing anti-aging and anti-disease products and services.
The province plans to foster a “Gangwon Style” healthy aging industry by converging the anti-aging materials industry, bio and medical equipment manufacturing industry and medical tourism industry.
It will invest a total of KRW 159.5 billion, including KRW 27.2 billion of the government budget, between 2015 and 2018 to develop relevant products, establish the industrial ecosystem and other systems.
Chuncheon and Hongcheon areas will use medical technologies of the metropolitan area and establish a healthy aging metropolis that is associated with the healthy aging industrial complex, product commercialization, and leisure and tourism industries.
Wonju and Hoengseong areas will be developed as a production base for health products, beauty products and medical equipment, and Gangneung and Pyeongchang areas will be fostered as a hub for the wellness industry and production base for natural products.
Since 2001, the province has established infrastructure for the bio, medical equipment, medical tourism and new materials industries by implementing the “triquetrous techno valley” and “high-tech industry double engine” strategies, and the infrastructure is expected to serve as the foundation for the health aging industry, according to the province.
In particular, the province hopes that its plan will help develop a converged healthy aging industry, propose a new business model for the province. It also hopes to associate the successful opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018 with revitalization of local economy and development of differentiated medical services.
The health and life cluster is expected to help the province record more than USD 100 billion in exports and sales revenue of KRW 1 trillion, and generate more than 3,000 employment opportunities, develop 50 new products and induce 10,000 medical tourists and 10,000 trained workers for the healthy aging and medical service industries.
“The population is aging, and life expectancy and old-age dependency ratio are increasing. Such phenomenon led the people to focus their attention to the future of the healthy aging industry, and that is why the province will foster the industry,” said an official of Gangwon. “The province will concentrate on fostering the industry by fully utilizing the industrial infrastructure and R&D capabilities the province have.”
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Source: Yonhap News (Mar. 11, 2014)
** This article was translated from the Korean.