'Creative economy' to bear fruit this year in Seoul

Efforts to foster an environment where creative ideas and innovative technologies lead to new jobs and markets are expected to show results starting this year, the country's minister in charge of science and IT affairs said. The so-called "creative economy," though it has many meanings and applications, is a method through which President Park Geun-hye said she can realize many of her economic development campaign pledges. "The creative economy has just taken shape, and would show visible results later this year," Choi Mun-kee, the minister of science, ICT and future planning, said Wednesday in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. The ministry was created under the government reorganization plan early this year, and is the symbol of the Park administration's creative economy, where science technology and information technology play central roles in the country's economic growth. "We have just formed the basis for many projects," Choi said, adding that some of the 30 key projects may start to bear fruits this year. Under the road map for the creative economy, the government said earlier it would focus on creating an environment for business start-ups to grow and strengthen policy coordination with related agencies A total of 408,000 new jobs will be created by 2017, about 90,000 of which are to come from business start-ups, according to the ministry. The ministry also said it will work to boost scientific research and development with sales of state-funded institutes rising to 500 billion won (US$474 million) in 2017 from 107 billion won in 2012. Some of the action plans include developing the country's software industry, and the ministry also vowed to nurture scientific minds and groom its knowledge industry. The ministry plans to boost output of the country's software industry to 100 trillion won in 2017 from 31.2 trillion won in 2012.