Busan launches second call for marine industry development projects

The Busan city government and the Busan Institute of Science and Technology Promotion announced Thursday that they are accepting applications through July 16 for the second round of their "Marine New Industry Leading Sector Discovery and Development Support Project."

The project is part of the city's "New Maritime Capital" strategy to position Busan as a global leader in the marine sector. It aims to build an industrial ecosystem in which marine businesses and talent grow together by strengthening cooperation among industry, academia, research institutes and government through marine cooperation clusters.

The call is divided into a designated category and an open category — the latter covering both free-topic and strategic proposals — based on a policy research report on Busan's marine new industry strategy. The six priority sectors identified through that research are marine mobility and equipment, marine finance, smart port services, blue food and biotech, marine energy and environment, and marine leisure and tourism.

The city plans to identify seven new planning projects through this round and provide research funding of around 35 million to 40 million won ($26,000) per project. Final recipients will be selected following an evaluation in July. Applicants should prepare the required documents by referring to the public notice on the institute's website (www.bistep.re.kr) and submit them by email (research@bistep.re.kr) no later than July 16.

Jo Yeong-tae, director of the city's Marine, Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau, called on researchers from industry, academia, research institutes and government to take interest and participate. "We must make Busan leap forward as a 'global marine leading city' driving advanced new industries, and ensure that game-changer projects in the marine sector take root here in Busan, the maritime capital," he said.