Industrial park development strategy and management practices

To support the export-driven industrial strategy, the Korean government established Korea Export Industrial Park (Guro Industrial Park) in the early 1960s, and established heavy and chemical industrial parks in Ulsan, Changwon and Yeocheon. Since then, the Korean government has gradually developed industrial parks that were aligned with the economic development strategies and matched with the level of industrial development, successfully providing industrial locations for fostering of the national strategic industries. As a result, the strategy to develop industrial parks has brought positive impacts such as effective provision of locations for the manufacturing sector and concentration and clustering of the nation’s strategic industries, successfully taking a pivotal role in implementing the government-led economic development plans.

This book aims to look back on the history and experiences of development of industrial parks of Korea by compiling the backgrounds of implementation of industrial park development strategies, the process of development and the methods of policy operations. This book will provide useful implications for developing countries that are interested in Korea’s economic development model as it examined the causes of successful implementation of industrial park development strategies and evaluated the results.

This book also features cases of operation of industrial park management organizations. Those organizations have played pivotal roles in maximizing functions of industrial parks by attracting appropriate types of businesses in consideration of the purpose of establishment of the parks, and supporting production activities of resident enterprises. Major roles and functions that the organizations have performed at the initial stage of industrial park development were reviewed, and changing roles and services of Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, which has been established in 1997 by integrating management organizations of five regions and managed major national industrial parks of Korea, were examined. Reviewing major programs operated by Korea Industrial Complex Corporation will give insights on challenges currently faced by Korea’s industrial parks and the future directions for related policy-making.