South Korea kicked off a four-day exhibition Thursday to promote the country's creative economy policies, inviting local firms to share their achievements in the technology realm.
  

The creative economy refers to President Park Geun-hye's flagship policy that aims to merge different industrial sectors, mostly with information and communications technologies, to generate new business opportunities and foster the growth of startups.
  

"The creative economy became a symbolic policy of South Korea to which other leaders of the world pay attention," ICT Minister Choi Yang-hee said at the opening ceremony. "We are beginning to achieve the fruits of the creative economy."
  

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said around 70,000 startups were set up in the country through September this year, while the amount of investment on venture firms advanced 30 percent on-year to reach 1.5 trillion won ($1.31 billion).
  

Organizers said it has also invited notable guest speakers to share ideas on how creative thinking can lead to business success.
  

Liu De, the vice president of China-based tech player Xiaomi Inc., attended the opening ceremony, delivering a lecture on the firm's success. Xiaomi, along with other Chinese electronics firms, has been cited as one of the major threats for Samsung Electronics Co. by industry watchers.
  

Lee Gwan-sun, who heads Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., will also give a lecture on how the South Korean pharmaceutical company clinched six licensing deals and collaboration projects worth a record $6.55 billion this year. (Yonhap)