[Etnews] Gwangju Medical Healthcare Industry Leads
As human lifespan has been extended due to medical development and improvement of living environment, the era of "Homo Hundred," which has an average life expectancy of 100 years, is set to take place. Gwangju City and Gwangju Technopark have been fostering the medical healthcare industry since 2002 to prepare for the era of Homo Hundred.
More than 20 years later, Gwangju is firmly rooted as the nation's No. 1 medical healthcare industry cluster. The number of companies, sales, and employment are growing by more than 10% annually. In particular, the proportion of the medical industry such as dentistry, bio, optical medicine, orthopedic surgery, cosmetic care, and ophthalmology is increasing. It examines the background, implementation process, effectiveness, and future plans of the Gwangju medical healthcare industry.
In 2000, Korea entered an aging society (the elderly population aged 65 or older is 7% or more of the total population). It is predicted that it will enter an aged society (14% or more) in 2017 and become a super-aged society (20% or more) in 2026.
Gwangju is also expected to enter an aging society this year and become a super-aged society by 2028. As solving the health problem of the elderly has emerged as a hot topic due to the rapid increase in the elderly population, it is pursuing a "health 100 year old" who is healthy and happy without being sick rather than simply living long.
The medical industry has a higher operating profit ratio, employment inducement effect, and job creation effect than other industries such as shipbuilding and automobiles. The state is actively fostering the medical industry by creating a high-tech medical complex and promoting biohealth. In the era of the 4th industrial revolution, the paradigm of the medical industry is changing to the development of convergent medical devices. The medical tourism market is rapidly expanding and "K-quarantine" and "K-bio" are in the spotlight in the aftermath of COVID-19.
Gwangju Metropolitan City and Gwangju Technopark have entered the development of the medical healthcare industry because the importance of the medical industry is growing and rapidly growing due to aging, changes in the structure of diseases, and continuous increase in national medical expenses.
Gwangju is rich in medical resources such as the number of doctors, the number of hospital-level medical institutions, the number of beds, and the number of state-of-the-art medical equipment. It is evaluated that the infrastructure of wellness medical tourism resources such as healing and healing, including nearby Jeollanam-do, is at the top level in the country.
Above all, the background of Gwangju's establishment as the center of the biomedical material parts industry was the full support of local governments and corporate support institutions and efforts to cut the bones of companies.
Since 2002, Gwangju City has been operating a titanium center in Gwangju Technopark that researches and develops titanium, an implant material. It supported dental parts companies in partnership with local universities such as Chonnam National University and Chosun University. In the early 2000s, regulations on biomedical material components were very strict, so other local medical companies gave up production. However, Gwangju medical device manufacturing companies have hung on to the end.
The Gwangju medical industry is largely divided into △ Biomedical Material Components △ Advanced Innovative Medical Devices △ Dementia, Age-Friendly, and Cosmetics Industry.
Biomedical material components refer to materials and parts for the recovery of biological tissues, such as artificial joints or implants such as ophthalmology and optical medical devices, orthopedics, and dentistry. It is harmless to the living body and has a property that is easy to adapt to.
Gwangju Technopark Titanium Center expanded to Biomaterial Parts Center in 2018. It is expanding its scope to dentistry, orthopedics, ophthalmic medical devices, bioabsorbent materials, and cosmetics industries, and is implementing product development to clinical application along with universities, hospitals, research institutes, and companies.
In the field of advanced innovative medical devices, it is promoting projects such as the micro-medical robot industry of human diagnosis, treatment, and drug delivery with active micro-medical devices, hospital-centered open laboratories that support start-ups and technology practicalization, development of incurable chronic pain technology, and establishment of next-generation precision medical technology.
In the field of dementia and old age-friendly, projects such as development of dementia prediction technology based on brain research, establishment of an empirical foundation for the application of dementia cohort multimodal data, and an elderly-friendly industrial support center are being promoted. In the cosmetics sector, a cosmetic care industry promotion and demonstration center is being established.
With the fostering of the medical healthcare industry, only two related companies with sales of 200 million won in 2002 and 22 employees recorded explosive growth with sales of 672.5 billion won, 3810 employees and 463 businesses as of 2019. The medical industry is establishing itself as an employment-inducing knowledge-based industry as a virtuous cycle structure that leads to attracting foreign companies, creating jobs, and increasing exports has been established.
Gwangju Metropolitan City and Gwangju Technopark have started to attract a high-tech medical complex in which the government will invest 5.6 trillion won by 2038 to further grow the medical business. There are two medical, dental, and oriental medicine hospitals operated by general universities in Gwangju. It is also adjacent to Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital and Green Cross in Jeollanam-do, and focuses on the fact that it can solve R&D and clinical trials in all medical fields in cooperation with the Jeongeup Stability Evaluation Institute in Jeollabuk-do, which is within a 40km radius. On top of that, it is also pointed out that it can foster a cutting-edge medical industry centered on AI medical devices, biomaterials, and artificial organs by investing KRW 740 billion in AI funds in the future.
The city plans to achieve its goal of "2030 Global Medi City Leap" by attracting 2.3 trillion won in medical industry sales, 9,000 employees, 2,000 companies, and 13,000 medical tourists in 2023.
Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, "We are focusing on growing the medical healthcare industry into Gwangju's future growth engine industry," and added, "We will definitely achieve diversification, advancement, and scale of the medical industry by establishing a cooperative system with key institutions in the medical field."
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