Korea’s top industry policymaker stressed Tuesday that creative economy is aimed at realizing ideas to harness existing technologies and market trends.

“Creative economy is no longer an ambiguous concept. It is to realize ideas harnessing existing technologies and market trends,” Industry Minister Yoon Sang-jick said in the keynote speech at the Creative Economy Forum in Seoul.

Herald Corp. hosted the one-day conference on the theme of how small and medium-sized companies can best utilize creative economy.

Yoon cited information communications technology-based energy management as an example. “Korea has already acquired the capacity to make secondary batteries. We need to use it to create a new market and employment in reaction to the global energy-saving trends.”

The government is now pushing ahead with measures to widen the cost gap between light load and peak load. This way, more energy can be saved, naturally boosting the ICT-based energy storage system market.

How to grab opportunities is also instrumental for SMEs to survive in the fast-changing market.

“Keep an eye on emerging or changing markets and you will know what to invest,” Amotech’s CEO Kim Pyung-kyu told the audiences.

He said today, gadgets are becoming smarter, home appliances higher efficient, and automobiles greener.

“Avoid investing in technologies of what you like. Spend your energy on developing products of what top global leaders need. This way, you will reduce risk factors.”

Amotech, an electronic components maker, such as chip ceramic varistors, set a goal of reaching 1 trillion won in sales ($900 million) by 2020 after being listed on KOSDAQ in 2003. Since then, the company has heavily invested in new technology development related to smartphones, oxygen sensors, and brushless direct current. As the investment recently paid off, the company expects to see 250 billion won in sales this year.

“Small and medium sized companies will have more opportunities in the creative economy because they are more nimble and innovative in dealing with end-users,” said Lee Min-hwa, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the author of “Creative Economy.”

People can better jump into new business than in the past by taking advantage of technology advancement, he said. “A 17-year-old student amassing $30 million by developing the Summly Application and Psy’s global hit through YouTube became possible with ICT development.”

However, he emphasized that for start-ups to succeed, a fair platform should be created between large and small companies.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)