"This innovation center will drive creative power and convergence, reinvigorating the economy and allowing both the city of Busan and Korea as a whole to grow by leaps and bounds."

President Park Geun-hye said that when she was delivering her congratulatory remarks during the opening of the Busan Center for a Creative Economy & Innovation (CCEI), at the Centum Green Town in Haeundae-gu, Busan, on March 16.





President Park said that the newly launched center will play three roles: promote more creative marketing in the service industry; create a virtuous circle in the film & visual media industry; and, lastly, foster start-ups based on the "Internet of Things" (IoT).

She vowed to do all that she could to help the Busan center position itself as a "strongpoint," a location where the value of the high-quality products manufactured at the center could be further enhanced, as well as to help open new markets for those products.

“Just as every special meal tastes better when served in the appropriate settings, so the marketability of a product depends on how we find and promote its ‘hidden value,' from the planning stages, through to the packaging and the marketing,” said the president.

“In that sense, this center will play an important role in finding such 'hidden value' in certain products and bring great satisfaction to the customers, and big profits to the companies, too.”





Pointing out the fact that the city hosts one of the biggest film festivals in Asia, the president added that, “This center will create a stable environment that will allow young, promising film makers to be more creative and to make more films. The government, too, will fund such creative activities among film makers to help them make their dreams come true.”

“Turning Busan into a 'Smart City,' a project already underway at the Busan Metropolitan City government, will serve as a good stepping stone for developing the IoT industry,” said President Park. As the 'Smart City' project is already under construction, this center will serve to develop talented entrepreneurs and start-ups specialized in the IoT, she added.



Following the ceremony, the president visited the IoT Research Center at Pusan National University, where she encouraged a group of students to work harder so that Korea would lead the IoT industry.

“Over the past few years, our nation has grown into one of the world powers of information and communications technologies. However, in this promising IoT sector, the nation has a long way to go, and there are many things that need to be developed and improved. Nonetheless, today I met many talented, outstanding students and was witness to their passion and ability. I am now more convinced than ever that if we work just a little bit harder, we will be able to stay ahead in this field on the global scene,” the president said.



By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
jiae5853@korea.kr