Competition among local governments to host the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) is intensifying. Ahead of next year's call for bids, four cities and provinces—South Chungcheong, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju Metropolitan City—are vying for the project.
The Busan city government said on the 16th it will hold the "2025 dental project performance report meeting" at the Westin Josun Busan in Haeundae District.
At the briefing, Kim Sung-sik, dean of the Busan National University Graduate School of Dentistry, will present the feasibility and strategic roadmap for establishing the NIDR in Busan. Kim is expected to lay out comprehensively Busan's strengths in the dental industry, clinical care, and education, along with the need to build a national hub for dental research.
The Busan city government said it has the best dental care infrastructure outside the capital region. Busan has 1,356 dental hospitals and clinics and 486 dental laboratories, as well as 11 universities capable of producing specialized talent. Busan is also home to dental implant corporations such as Osstem Implant, DIO, Cowellmedi, and Point Implant, which have manufacturing facilities. These corporations account for 63.7% of the nation's dental materials production and 36.3% of exports.
The NIDR will be a core national research institution to be established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is slated to serve as the control tower overseeing dental policy development, new technology research, clinical research support, and industrial promotion. Because it was initially a Yoon Suk-yeol administration pledge, Cheonan had been considered a likely site.
However, concerns that designating a specific area could spark regional conflict and favoritism led to a switch to a competitive bidding process. The ministry is expected to prepare evaluation criteria in the first half of next year and begin the call for bids in the second half.
Beyond Busan, South Chungcheong Province, Daegu, and Gwangju are also competing to attract the NIDR. Gwangju recently held a resolution rally for the bid and launched a citywide signature campaign. Daegu held an expert symposium to bolster its case. South Chungcheong, by contrast, is pushing to secure Cheonan, protesting the government's shift to a competitive bidding process.