Gwangju City, Committed to Fostering the Future Food Industry 'Gonggi Industry'

Establishment of Convergence Complex by 2027... Occupancy by Specialized Support, Research Institutions, and Companies

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 19th that it is implementing various policies such as creating a convergence complex, attracting investment companies, establishing an indoor air improvement demonstration center, and supporting local companies' exports to develop the air industry as a future key industry.

First, the air industry convergence complex is being developed in the Pyeongdong 3rd Industrial Complex with an area of 132,000㎡ by 2025, investing 50 billion KRW. The plan is to attract related specialized support institutions, research institutes, and anchor companies to grow it into an air industry cluster.

Last November, the city signed a first-phase investment agreement worth 44.8 billion KRW with nine air industry-related companies including Daechang Co., Ltd., and actual construction of factories in the convergence complex has begun, gradually materializing the air industry promoted by Gwangju.

Based on this, Gwangju secured 2 billion KRW in national funds for the ‘Indoor Air Improvement Demonstration Center Construction Project’ aimed at improving air quality in facilities for vulnerable groups, serving as a catalyst for the large-scale national project ‘Eco-friendly Air Industry Promotion Project.’ Starting this year, the city plans to begin designing and constructing the center to establish certified demonstration equipment and support commercialization of local companies.

The Indoor Air Improvement Demonstration Center will establish experimental facilities capable of responding to various environments for indoor air purification performance testing and create an AI-linked virtual environment, providing one-stop support for certification challenges required during new product development by small and medium enterprises.

Export support achievements are also becoming visible, including 200 billion KRW in sales, 3.3 million USD in exports, and the creation of 120 jobs by local air appliance companies.

Since 2018, Gwangju has been conducting joint export support projects to New Southern countries (Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, etc.) in collaboration with the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Gwangju Technopark, and the Korea Air Industry Promotion Association.

As a result of the first support phase, in 2019, nine companies including DK successfully entered the Singapore market with ten products, securing export contracts worth 2 million USD with local home appliance distributors AOM and dna.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, the second support project conducted market research on air appliance products and from December last year to this month, established a joint exhibition hall in Thailand for export support of 25 products from 13 companies including Daeyoung Electronics Co., Ltd., completed online consultations with local buyers, and produced videos for entry into Thai home shopping channels.

These videos are scheduled to be broadcast on local home shopping channels this month, and the city plans to actively support expansion into Vietnam, Indonesia, and other countries to establish air appliance products in New Southern countries.

Son Kyung-jong, Director of the AI Industry Bureau of the city, said, “With the operation of the Indoor Air Improvement Demonstration Center, the first of its kind in Korea, local companies can significantly reduce costs and time invested in new product development and gain a competitive edge in the global market.” He added, “We expect Gwangju to grow into a mecca city for the air industry through the aggregation of excellent companies and the creation of an industrial ecosystem.”