Elevator cluster to be built in Geochang

GEOCHANG, South Gyeongsang Province -- Korea plans to build an industrial cluster for elevator manufacturers in Gyeonchang, three and half hours south of Seoul, by 2012, officials said yesterday. It will include the world`s first college specialized in lift technology and engineering.

The state-run Korea Elevator Safety Institute, in cooperation with the South Gyeongsang provincial government, will build the educational-industrial complex to develop energy-efficient, eco-friendly elevators in the city with a population of 70,000.

The joint venture will invest a total of 140 billion won ($110.7 million), the officials said. The industrial complex will create about 2,000 new jobs and generate more than 300 billion won in revenue, they added.



"We are committed to turn Geochang into a `lift valley` -- with which we will try to emulate the success of the Silicon Valley in the United States -- a city of a lift standard and research bases," KESI president Kim Nam-deuk, said.

In an effort to form a global network and share state-of-the-art elevator technologies, the KESI also launched an international cooperation body consisting of authorities from four other countries in Asia.

The authorities coming from Russia, China, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan will work together to prevent elevator accidents and improve the quality of products by tracking down inferior goods sold in the global market.

The member countries will cooperate in developing next-generation green elevators that would reduce energy by 60 percent for existing lifts. A green elevator would also reduce 2 tons of carbon emission a year, officials said.

"We are planning to seek memberships from Europe and the United States by 2013 and develop the group into an international organization," the KESI president said. The global network will also help Korea enter overseas markets in coming years as well as offering chances to host international conferences like the World Elevators & Escalators Expo, he added.

The world`s first elevator college is one of core projects planned by KESI.

"In the year 2010, Korea will open the world`s first lift college that is expected to produce elevator engineers and technicians. Graduates of the college will also have job opportunities in abroad," Lee Gang-doo, chief director of the Korea Lift College, said.

The college, currently in the process of obtaining approval from the Education Ministry, will produce 220 graduates a year.

Local elevator manufacturing companies have already shown interest in the planned industrial cluster as it offers various subsidies and tax incentives by the provincial government. A planned R&D center is another merit for small- and medium-sized firms that find it hard to make investment in development of new technologies, an official of the provincial government said.

(christory@heraldm.com)

By Cho Chung-un