Colleges, research institutes, and companies from South Korea and Germany will create a joint innovation cluster in Busan.
 
The Busan Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it will sign a contract with the Korea Land Housing Corporation (LH) on December 30 to build the German Campus on a 54-thousand-180 square meter area in Myeongji International New Town in Gangseo District.
 
The city said it will set aside three billion won, including two-point-five billion from the national budget, and begin construction of the German Campus in the second half of next year.
 
The southern port city announced in May that it made a deal with German pharmaceutical company Merck to build a research and development center in Busan. Recently, the city also succeeded in attracting the fluid mechanics research institute of German university FAU (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg).
 
The city plans to turn the German Campus into a research cluster focused on the environment, pharmacology, and energy.
 
In another effort to transform Busan into a global corporate hub, the city also plans to hold a joint industrial, academic and government meeting between the two countries in January.
 
It will also launch an association of German companies at a Busan hotel on Wednesday. The association will start with 12 inaugural members, which are all manufacturers located in Busan, and work to help attract more German and other foreign companies to the city.