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Good practice Imported

Pangyo Techno Valley — South Korea's Silicon Valley

South Korea · Seongnam · See the South Korea profile · See the Seongnam profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Pangyo Techno Valley (est. 2005), 20 km from Seoul, hosts 1,700+ companies including Naver, Kakao, Samsung and LG, employs 79,000 workers, and recorded KRW 167.7 trillion (≈$125B) in annual sales in 2022—22% of Gyeonggi Province GDP.

167.7 KRW trillion (~US$125 billion)
Total sales (2022)
1700 companies (1,700+)
Companies hosted
79000 workers
Workforce
22 %
Share of Gyeonggi Province GDP
Pangyo Techno Valley — South Korea's Silicon Valley

Details

Promoter
Gyeonggi Province / Pangyo Techno Valley Management Corporation
Period
2005–present
Keywords
IT, biotech, gaming, cultural technology, corporate R&D, startup ecosystem

Context

Pangyo Techno Valley is a planned technology industrial complex in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, about 20 km south of Seoul, whose development began in 2005 under Gyeonggi Province and which has grown into South Korea's de facto Silicon Valley.

Activities

By 2022-2024 the complex hosted over 1,700 companies across two phases, 92% of them in high-tech industries, anchored by Naver, Kakao, Nexon, NCSoft, AhnLab, HD Hyundai, Samsung and LG, with a Second Techno Valley adding a 'Venture Town' concept aimed at housing new startups alongside established large-cap tenants.

Results

Total sales across the complex reached KRW 167.7 trillion (about US$125 billion) in 2022, the workforce is around 79,000, and the complex is estimated to generate roughly 22% of Gyeonggi Province's total GDP.

Conclusions

A September 2025 TechCrunch investigation found Pangyo struggles to match its 'Silicon Valley' label globally, citing over-reliance on a handful of large domestic champions, difficulty attracting international talent and companies, and limited global brand recognition, while no published equity or inclusion data covers its workforce.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Very high (> €5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Gyeonggi Province government, Pangyo Techno Valley Management Corporation

Conditions for success

  • Sustained provincial government backing since 2005
  • Anchor tenants that are Korea's largest listed technology companies (Naver, Kakao, Samsung, LG)
  • A second-phase 'Venture Town' concept designed to keep attracting new startups alongside large corporates

Common failure modes

  • Reliance on a small number of dominant domestic champions rather than a globally diversified base, limiting international talent and company attraction per TechCrunch's 2025 analysis

Where it fits

Governance type
regional/provincial
Scale
regional
Income level
high-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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