韓國的創意經濟 South Korea aims for creative economy to end reliance on chaebol

As a state-run programming contest gets under way in a modernist glass building close to Seoul, a few dozen 20-somethings roam the venue, clad in black or white T-shirts and hoping their coding skills will win them a share of the Won27m ($24,000) prize money.

在鄰近首爾的一幢現代主義風格的玻璃幕牆大樓裏，一場由政府組織的編程大賽正在進行，幾十位20多歲的年輕人在會場上走動，身穿黑色或白色T恤，期待自己的編程技能贏得2700萬韓元（合2.4萬美元）獎金的一部分。

The event is hosted by the creative economy centre at Bundang, south of South Korea’s capital. It is one of a network of 17 such institutions being rolled out across the country that offer workspace, funding and advice to start-ups and budding entrepreneurs.

此次比賽由首爾以南的創新經濟中心盆唐(Bundang)主辦。盆唐是韓國在全國設立的17個創新中心中的一員，向初創企業和初露頭角的企業家提供辦公場所、資金和建議。

Along with a new ministry of future planning, the centres are the most visible manifestation of the government’s “creative economy” agenda — President Park Geun-hye’s drive to foster start-ups and ease the country’s economic reliance on a small number of large business groups, known as chaebols, such as Samsung and Hyundai.

這些創新中心與韓國新設的未來規劃部，都是韓國政府“創意經濟”議程的最明顯體現。韓國總統朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)計劃藉助這項議程，培育初創企業，減輕該國經濟對少數大企業集團的依賴，這些大企業被稱爲財閥，例如三星(Samsung)和現代(Hyundai)。

The push follows four consecutive years of growth below 4 per cent — unusually slow by South Korean standards — sparking concern that the country may struggle to close the gap with the world’s richest economies. Attention has focused on the weakness of the small and medium-sized business sector, which has fallen steadily behind the country’s manufacturing giants in terms of productivity.

韓國經濟增速已連續4年低於4%，按照韓國的標準低得異乎尋常，這令外界擔心，韓國可能難以彌補與全球最富經濟體之間的差距。韓國政府的注意力放在中小企業的劣勢方面，這些企業的生產率與該國製造業巨擘之間的距離越來越大。

Half a century ago, the president’s father, military ruler Park Chung-hee, put the chaebols at the heart of his transformative industrial policy. Now, in a twist that demonstrates the lingering influence of the state over the conglomerates, Ms Park has enlisted the country’s leading business groups in her own signature economic push: this time aimed at curbing their dominance by fostering a new generation of businesses.

半個世紀以前，朴槿惠的父親、軍事統治者朴正熙(Park Chung-hee)把這些財閥列爲其工業政策改革的核心。如今，朴槿惠動員韓國領先企業集團配合她的標誌性經濟計劃：這一次的目標是通過培育新一代企業來削弱財閥的霸主地位，這突顯出韓國政府對這些綜合企業仍有影響力。

The centre at Bundang, for example, is run by telecoms group KT, which is providing most of the operation’s Won6.2bn annual budget and has deployed experienced staff to run it. “That one costs $40,000, that one costs $50,000 . . . that big one is $100,000,” says Ju Young-beom, one of those staff, pointing to 3D printers provided for the seven start-ups enjoying rent-free space in the building.

舉例來說，設在盆唐的創新中心由韓國電信(KT)管理，在該中心62億韓元的年度預算中，韓國電信提供了其中的大部分資金，並派出有經驗的員工管理。其中一名員工Ju Young-beom指着爲7家在這座大樓享受零租金待遇的初創企業提供的3D打印機說：“這臺價格爲4萬美元，那臺5萬美元……大的那臺是10萬美元。”

Each of the other 16 centres has been put under one of the country’s leading chaebols. Samsung Electronicshas set up two centres in the southeastern cities of Daegu and Gumi, while Hyundai Motorhas done so in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Ms Park has attended the launch of each of the 12 opened so far.

其他16家創新中心也都由韓國領先財閥之一運營。三星電子(Samsung Electronics)在東南部城市大邱和龜尾開設了兩家創新中心，現代汽車(Hyundai Motor)也在西南部城市光州設立了創新中心。朴槿惠參加了目前已開設的全部12家創新中心的開業儀式。

But critics of the scheme question whether the business culture of the chaebols — which emerged as state-fostered, largely heavy industrial concerns — makes them best placed to nurture the sort of creative, dynamic start-ups able to compete with those emerging from Silicon Valley.

但批評該計劃的人士質疑，這些財閥的企業文化（由政府培育，大部分爲重工業企業）究竟是否適合培育那種富有活力和創造力、能夠與來自硅谷的企業競爭的初創企業？

“Hierarchy and habit are very important parts of Korean corporate life,” says Chung Yeon-woo, a professor at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology who was previously a senior car designer at Hyundai.

韓國蔚山科學技術大學(Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)教授、曾經在現代擔任高級汽車設計師的Chung Yeon-woo表示：“等級制度和習慣是韓國企業界非常重要的組成部分。”

The network could end up undermining its stated goal by hardening the grip of the chaebols on the economy, he warns. “In the end, all the small companies with good ideas will be bought by the big companies,” Mr Chung says, “and those left will not be the really good ones.”

他警告稱，這個網絡最終反而可能加大這些財閥對經濟的掌控，從而破壞其宣告的目標。“到最後，那些擁有優秀創意的小企業都會被大企業收購，”他表示，“剩下的不會是真正優秀的企業。”

Such acquisitions would “not necessarily be a bad thing”, says Lee Je-joon, the official tasked with overseeing the creative economy centres at the future planning ministry.

韓國未來規劃部負責監督創新經濟中心的官員Lee Je-joon表示，此類併購“不一定是壞事”。

In a recent report on South Korean start-ups, the consultancy McKinsey cited the chaebols’ lack of interest in acquiring small companies as a major factor deterring investment in the latter and slowing “the circulation of capital and human resources”. Among South Korean start-up owners who sold equity in their companies in 2013, only 0.4 per cent did so through takeovers, compared with 61 per cent in the US, it said.

在最近一份有關韓國初創企業的報告中，諮詢公司麥肯錫(McKinsey)把財閥缺乏收購小公司的興趣列爲阻礙對小公司投資以及減緩“資本和人力資源流通”的一個重要因素。報告稱，在2013年出售公司股本的韓國初創企業所有者中，只有0.4%是通過收購完成的，而美國的這個比例高達61%。

Rallying investor interest is a major plank of the creative economy agenda. Seoul has rolled out new funding schemes, including a state-backed fund with about $4bn in capital, with much of the cash dispensed through mechanisms that “match” venture capital injections up to seven times over.

提振投資者興趣是韓國創意經濟議程的一個主要方面。韓國政府推出了新的融資計劃，包括一隻由政府支持的基金，擁有大約40億美元資本，其中相當大一部分資金是與風投配合發放的，最多達到風投注資規模的7倍。

This appears to have helped spur significant growth in the sector. Venture capital funds in South Korea raised Won2.5tn last year, triple the amount in 2012, according to the Korea Venture Capital Association.

此舉似乎幫助推動了韓國風投行業的大幅增長。根據韓國風投協會(Korea Venture Capital Association)的數據，去年，韓國風投基金募資2.5萬億韓元，是2012年的3倍。

Government financial support has also helped drive a proliferation of start-up incubators and accelerators in Seoul’s upmarket Gangnam area — some of which are competing with the state-backed centres to support budding companies.

政府資金支持還幫助推動了首爾高檔地段江南區初創企業孵化器和加速器的增多，其中一些機構正與由政府支持的創新中心競相向初創企業提供支持。

The latest was launched by Google, which this year set up Campus Seoul, providing workspace for eight of the 150 local start-ups that applied. The companies — some of which have benefited from the government’s funding schemes — receive advice and support from Maru 180, a non-profit venture established by the shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries before Ms Park came to power.

最新項目是由谷歌(Google)發起的，今年穀歌創建了首爾創業校園(Campus Seoul)，爲提出申請的150家本地初創企業中的8家提供辦公場所。這些公司（其中一些已受益於韓國政府的融資計劃）獲得了由非盈利風投機構Maru 180的建議和扶持，Maru 180是由造船企業現代重工(Hyundai Heavy Industries)在朴槿惠上臺之前創建的。

“We believe that investing in these economies is going to produce financial return for us down the road, when more companies are created, coming online, using the internet, using Google,” says Mary Grove, head of Google for Entrepreneurs, a unit of Google that supports start-ups in more than 100 countries.

在100多個國家支持初創企業的谷歌旗下部門Google for Entrepreneurs主管瑪麗•格羅夫(Mary Grove)表示：“我們認爲，投資於這些經濟體未來將爲我們帶來經濟回報，屆時會有更多的企業創建、上線、利用互聯網、使用谷歌。”

South Korea already ranks among the top five producers of mobile apps for Google’s Android smartphone system, she says, with the number of IT start-ups increasing by an average of 10 per cent a year over the past four years.

她表示，韓國已列在谷歌安卓(Android)智能手機操作系統的五大移動應用生產國之列，過去4年，IT初創企業數量平均每年增加10%。

South Korea’s conglomerates, by contrast, showed little interest in supporting start-ups before the new policy push, says Ryu Jung-hee, chief executive of FuturePlay, an accelerator providing funding and technical support to start-ups in Seoul. “It’s not organic, not natural [for them],” he says.

向首爾初創企業提供資金和技術支持的加速器機構FuturePlay首席執行官Ryu Jung-hee表示，相比之下，在政府發起新的政策努力之前，韓國企業集團對於扶持初創企業沒什麼興趣。他表示：“（對他們來說），這麼做不自然，不正常。”

But attitudes have changed. Ihm Jong-tae, who heads the creative economy centre run by SK, the country’s third-biggest chaebol, in the western city of Daejeon, says: “There aren’t many things that SK can do alone any more. The group needs to change its portfolio, and open innovation is one of the most feasible ways to do that.”

但這些大企業的態度已發生變化。爲韓國第三大財閥SK在韓國西部城市大田執掌創新經濟中心的Ihm Jong-tae表示：“SK依靠一己之力能做的事情不是很多了。集團需要改變其業務組合，而開放式創新是最可行的方法之一。”

Mr Ihm leads the way to a 3D printer room at the Daejeon centre and points out a prototype camera case printed by The S, an action camera maker that is one of 10 start-ups hosted there.

Ihm Jong-tae把記者帶到了大田創新中心的一個3D打印室，指着一個由運動型攝像機制造商The S打印的相機包原型。該公司是入住該中心的10家初創企業之一。

“Traditional Korean culture is that the big companies are the kings and the small ones are their servants,” says Lee Min-gu, co-founder of The S, which is hoping to win a grant of Won200m from SK in exchange for 1.5 per cent of its revenue over the next five years. “But I think it’s changing, it’s getting better.”

“在韓國傳統文化中，大企業是國王，小企業是僕人，”The S聯席創始人Lee Min-gu表示，“但我認爲情況在發生變化，變得更好。”The S希望從SK獲得2億韓元的撥款，作爲交換，SK將獲得該公司未來5年收入的1.5%。