Steel Industry Mecca Pohang Dreams of a 'Bio Cluster' Now

[Anchor]
Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, designated as a 'bio-specialized complex', is emerging as a new base for the domestic bio industry.

Local governments are gathering administrative power to gain global competitiveness through the establishment of research-oriented hospitals and the creation of a start-up ecosystem.

Reporter Heo Sung-joon covered it.

[Reporter]
It is the world's third national-level research facility, the 'Cell Membrane Protein Research Institute'.

Through joint research with nearby bio companies, synergy effects are being made in drug development.

Excellent researchers from POSTECH and Handong University, as well as state-of-the-art experimental equipment in the region such as radiation accelerators and cryogenic electron microscopes, are helping greatly.

[Lee Jiho / Director of Cellular Membrane Protein Research Center: There are many venture companies related to POSTECH, and they are doing research on how to make the treatment they are developing better.]

The Pohang Convergence Technology Industry District was selected as a "bio-specialized complex" for the national high-tech strategic industry in June.

We have prepared a support system to systematically foster the exploding bio industry.

In addition to government support, Pohang City is paying attention to the Swiss city of Basel to secure super-gap competitiveness.

This is because it is Europe's largest bio-industry hub with global pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis and Roche and is a key hub for startup development.

Pohang City is looking for ways to combine success stories such as Basel's startup support system, technology transfer, and investor matching with the local startup ecosystem.

In particular, we are striving to establish a research-oriented hospital and cultivate doctor scientists so that research results and business creation can lead to a virtuous cycle structure.

[Lee Kang-deok / Pohang Mayor of North Gyeongsang Province: In particular, we will create a medical school centered on POSTECH and operate a corporate innovation park near Jigok Industrial Complex and Handong University so that the bio industry in our region can take place.]

Attention is focusing on whether Pohang, a mecca for the steel industry, can be reborn as a global bio cluster like Basel, Switzerland.

I'm Heo Sungjun of YTN.

Reporter for shooting
: Jeon Ji-ho