Busan is good

Busan Shares Results of Its Focused Manufacturing Promotion Strategy, Paving the Way for Unicorn-Level Quantum Leaps in Manufacturing

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it held the “2025 Busan-Style Anchor Company Development Support Program Performance Report Conference” at 10:00 a.m. yesterday (December 17) at Hotel Nongshim in Dongnae-gu.

The Busan-Style Anchor Company Development Support Program (the “ManuCorn Project”) is a manufacturing promotion initiative designed to revitalize Busan’s manufacturing sector. It supports the transformation of traditional manufacturing companies—long pillars of the local economy—into advanced manufacturers and promotes “quantum leap”-level growth and advancement.

“ManuCorn” is a portmanteau of “Manufacturing” and “Unicorn.”

This performance report conference was organized to share the achievements of Busan’s anchor companies, known as “ManuCorn” firms, with the local community and to promote the wider dissemination of corporate growth outcomes while strengthening cooperation.

A “quantum leap” refers to a qualitative transformation in which a company moves beyond incremental growth stages to achieve a higher level of competitiveness and growth.

The event included the signing of an MOU for “ManuCorn Partners,” along with sessions on project progress and outcome sharing, presentations on the achievements of outstanding anchor companies, and an anchor company–startup open innovation program.

Open innovation refers to activities in which companies introduce external technologies and ideas while also sharing internal resources or technologies with external partners to create new products or services.

In particular, through the “ManuCorn Partners MOU” involving Busan Metropolitan City, Busan Techno Park, and 13 related business support institutions, an integrated, full-cycle joint support system for anchor companies was established by linking each institution’s capabilities in funding, talent, technology, consulting, space, and training.

With this agreement as a starting point, participating institutions plan to step up mutual cooperation centered on the core support functions of the ManuCorn Project, including open innovation, investment and financial linkages, and testbed demonstration support.

The 13 participating institutions in ManuCorn Partners are: Busan Metropolitan City; Busan Techno Park; Busan Startup Investment Agency; Korea SMEs and Startups Agency; Korea Credit Guarantee Fund; Korea Technology Finance Corporation; Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Busan Employers Federation; Busan–Ulsan Chapter of the Korea Technology Innovation Association; Busan Venture Business Association; Busan–Ulsan–Gyeongnam Federation of the Korea Management Innovation Small & Medium Business Association; Busan Federation of Small & Medium Business Convergence; and the Southeast Regional Council of the Korea Startup Forum.

In the subsequent anchor company case presentations, key achievements were introduced by first-round ManuCorn company Jeil Electric Co., Ltd. and second-round ManuCorn companies Ilju G&S Co., Ltd. and Chokwang Paint Co., Ltd.

Since being selected as an anchor company, Jeil Electric Co., Ltd. has achieved visible growth across major management indicators compared to 2023, including an approximately 40.2 percent increase in sales, a 27.9 percent increase in the number of regular employees, and a 42.3 percent increase in direct exports.

Ilju G&S Co., Ltd. shared its preparation process for digital and artificial intelligence transformation (DX·AX) in manufacturing, as well as case studies on applying safety and energy management solutions at manufacturing sites.

Chokwang Paint Co., Ltd. introduced collaboration outcomes based on open innovation, including joint research with local new materials companies.

Finally, a “ManuCorn–Startup 9×9 Open Innovation Briefing (Meetup)” was held to identify collaborative models between anchor companies and local startups. Nine ManuCorn companies and nine Busan-based startups recommended by the Korea Startup Forum participated, creating a platform for exchange to explore possibilities for technological and business cooperation.

Busan Metropolitan City plans to use this performance-sharing conference as a momentum to continuously expand open innovation-linked support, ensuring that collaboration outcomes centered on anchor companies can spread across the broader regional industrial ecosystem.

Park Dong-seok, Director General of the Advanced Industries Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “Even amid challenging economic conditions, Busan-style anchor companies are demonstrating new possibilities for the city’s manufacturing sector through tangible achievements such as increased sales, exports, and job creation.” He added, “Through the newly launched ‘ManuCorn Partners,’ we will further strengthen the corporate growth foundation that connects technology development, demonstration, commercialization, and collaboration.”